History

Pappa al pomodoro traces to the medieval Tuscan peasant kitchen, a sister dish to ribollita built off the same logic: use the day's stale bread, the season's tomatoes, the kitchen's olive oil. The novelist Vamba (Luigi Bertelli) put the dish on the literary map with his 1907 book Il giornalino di Gian Burrasca, where the boys at the orphanage sing 'viva la pappa col pomodoro!'. The dish entered the canonical Tuscan trattoria repertoire by the 1930s.

Common allergens: Gluten

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 15 minTotal 1 hrDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 500g ripe San Marzano tomatoes, peeled and crushed
  • 300g stale Tuscan unsalted bread, torn into chunks
  • 4 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 1 bunch fresh basil
  • 750ml vegetable stock or water
  • 100ml Tuscan extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to finish
  • Sea salt, black pepper

Method

  1. In a heavy pan, warm olive oil and add garlic. Cook 2 minutes until fragrant, not coloured.
  2. Add the crushed tomatoes, half the basil, salt and pepper. Simmer 15 minutes.
  3. Add the torn bread and stock. Stir to combine; simmer gently 30 minutes.
  4. Mash the bread into the tomato with a wooden spoon as it cooks; the texture is dense porridge.
  5. Off heat, stir in the remaining basil torn by hand.
  6. Let stand 10 minutes covered.
  7. Serve warm or at room temperature, finished with a generous pour of olive oil and black pepper.
  8. Never with Parmigiano; pappa al pomodoro stands alone.

Tip from the editors. Use unsalted Tuscan bread (pane sciapo); salted bread breaks down into mush, not the porridge texture.

Where to eat pappa al pomodoro

Pappa al pomodoro in Florence

Cibreo Trattoria ★ 4.6

Florentine, Tuscan€€sant-ambrogio

Cibreo Trattoria in Florence's Sant'Ambrogio quarter is Fabio Picchi's no-pasta trattoria, the casual side of the Cibreo group. Located in Sant Ambrogio.

Signature: Trippa alla fiorentina, Pappa al pomodoro, Polpettine di pollo

Order: Polpettine di pollo, pappa al pomodoro and the trippa alla fiorentina.

Tip: No reservations and no pasta on the menu. Queue from 19:45 for the 20:00 first seating; lunch is the calmer service.

Via dei Macci 122r, 50122 Firenze Book →

Trattoria La Casalinga ★ 4.1

Italian€€oltrarno

Trattoria La Casalinga off Piazza Santo Spirito is the 1963 family cucina povera room with ribollita and trippa for 10 euros, no concession to the centre.

Why locals love it: Family-run cucina povera since 1963 just off Piazza Santo Spirito; ribollita and trippa for €10 a course, no concession to the centre's tourist circuit.

Tip: Closed Sunday; cash only. Lunch is calmer; dinner books up a week ahead.

Via dei Michelozzi 9r, 50125 Firenze

Osteria di Giovanni ★ 4.3

Florentine, Tuscan€€€santa-maria-novella

Giovanni Latini's Osteria di Giovanni in Florence's Santa Maria Novella sits opposite the family-original Latini room. Kitchen leans florentine, tuscan.

Signature: Bistecca alla fiorentina, Pici cacio e pepe, Pappa al pomodoro

Order: Bistecca alla fiorentina, pici cacio e pepe and Giovanni's pappa al pomodoro.

Tip: Book a fortnight ahead; the front room is the one to ask for. Dinner only.

Via del Moro 22r, 50123 Firenze Book →

Trattoria Marione ★ 4.3

Florentine Trattoria€€santa-maria-novella

Trattoria Marione in Florence's Santa Maria Novella quarter runs the unfussy lunchtime carte locals queue for, with the four pillars of Florentine cucina.

Signature: Ribollita, Bistecca alla fiorentina, Pappardelle al cinghiale

Order: Ribollita, pappa al pomodoro and the bistecca alla fiorentina by the etto.

Tip: Cash and card; queue from 12:30. Closed Sunday; lunch and dinner both seat at 12:30 and 19:30.

Via della Spada 27, 50123 Firenze

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