Tomato soup as it should be: Pappa al pomodoro

Southwest 6 to gale 8, veering west or northwest 4 or 5.

Moderate or rough, becoming slight later.

Showers, thundery at first.

Good, occasionally moderate.

Tomato soup is a curious dish. Despite the fact that any homemade soup has a more pronounced tomato taste, the nation`s favourite is still a tin of H* Cream of Tomato soup. Okay, some prefer C* or B*, but these people are just plain weird. If it helps, other nations are not that much different.

While tomatoes with salt are able to evoke that Umami flavour, it is sugar which brings it out into the full. Most Italians add sugar to their tomato sauce; however we are a bit reluctant to do it at home. Never mind that one serving of H* soup has 14.8gr sugar, C* has 20gr and B* 10gr.  We rather suffer the acidity than adding a bit of sugar.

But something else is missing: a certain mouth-feel. No matter what, a homemade tomato soup leaves you a bit unsatisfied and reminds you of warm tomato juice. Hence people add cream to it to give it more roundness. But it is still not right.

BTW, if you want to attempt to recreate your favourite tinned soup, forget the cream but add evaporated milk instead. And then adjust for sugar.

But there is one dish which comes close to perfection, without giving the feeling you that you mimicked a tinned soup: Pappa al pomodore=tomato pap. While I cant promise that you will burst into this song, it sure is pleasing.

Like all dishes which rely on very few ingredients, only the best will do. You cannot create a tomato soup with some kind of red balls which taste of water. Unless you live in sunny Italy, have an allotment or pay far too much, you are better off with good quality tinned tomatoes.

But if you have a glug of tomatoes (maybe from a market where they were reduced because they are less than perfect), do try Nigella Lawson`s “moonblush tomatoes”.

I do them all the time and can guarantee it works, but I recommend turning the heat off after 2 minutes, not immediately. In fact, I made them yesterday for the pappa (I left the picture in its natural state to show how much they reduce and darken). But a tin of tomatoes in their juice is good enough.

And, if you don’t have stale bread, but your bread is still reasonably fresh, wet it with water and put it with the tomatoes into the oven. It is important that you don’t open the oven but leave the tomatoes and bread in peace.

I will give both alternatives, the one where you start a day before and the other if you rustle it up in a few minutes.

Pappa al pomodoro

300-400gr tomatoes (or one tin of tomatoes in their juice)

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced

a few fresh basil leaves

a few stalks of thyme

1 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon of sugar

2 tablespoons of tomato concentrate

1 handful of stale good-quality white or sourdough bread, torn into chunks

If you have the fresh tomatoes, make the evening before Nigella`s moonblush tomatoes, but add some twigs of thyme and the two garlic cloves.

The next day, pick the garlic out and fry it gently in a pan. In the meantime tip the rest into a bowl and blend with a stick blender. Add to the garlic.

If you use a tin, just fry the garlic gently until soft, and then add the contents of the tin.

Add some of the basil leaves, the salt, pepper, sugar, tomato concentrate and a good cup of water.

Use a wooden spoon to break up the tomatoes (if you used the tinned), while bringing to a boil. Simmer for 15-25 minutes. It should be the consistency between thin and thick cream.

Take off the heat. Add the torn-up bread pieces to the pan, along with the rest of the basil, torn. (Reserve a few basil leaves for garnish). Give it 5 minutes and stir and break up a bit: it should be rather thick and porridgy, but still has visible chunks.

Put into a bowl and float some additional olive oil on top. Top with basil and enjoy.

Verdict:

Incredible filling.

And gorgeous.

The chunk of Pecorino, which I put next to it, was uneaten. Couldn’t eat one more bite.

However: the original asks for the unsalted bread from Tuscany, while I had homemade “pide” and the bread adds extra salt. It was fine but only because I was cautious. So please be careful with the seasoning.

But do try it, it`s really a wonderful tomato soup.