Papa Al Pomodoro

Papa Al Pomodoro  is a traditional Tuscan soup.  It's a tomato based soup made with bread.  It's  full of texture; not at all like a traditional tomato soup. This is Ina Garten's recipe and it's incredible .Make sure you use great bread for this recipe. I bought my ciabatta bread at the bake shop at whole foods. I bought 2 loafs and used about one and a half on this recipe. I also used  crushed San Marzano tomatoes which made life easy by eliminating the need to crush the tomatoes in a food processor. I'm in love with this soup.

Ingredients

·         1/2 cup good olive oil

·         2 cups chopped yellow onion (2 onions)

·         1 cup medium-diced carrots, unpeeled (3 carrots)

·         1 fennel bulb, trimmed, cored, and medium-diced (1 1/2 cups)

·         4 teaspoons minced garlic (4 cloves)

·         3 cups (1-inch) diced ciabatta cubes, crusts removed

·         2 (28-ounce) cans good Italian plum tomatoes

·         4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade

·         1/2 cup dry red wine

·         1 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

·         Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

·         1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

For the topping:

·         3 cups (1-inch) diced ciabatta cubes

·         2 ounces thickly sliced pancetta, chopped

·         24 to 30 whole fresh basil leaves

·         3 tablespoons good olive oil, plus more for serving

·         Salt and pepper

Directions

Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, fennel, and garlic and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until tender. Add the ciabatta cubes and cook for 5 more minutes. Place the tomatoes in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and process just until coarsely chopped. Add the tomatoes to the pot along with the chicken stock, red wine, basil, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper. Bring the soup to a boil, lower the heat, and allow to simmer, partially covered, for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

For the topping, place the ciabatta cubes, pancetta, and basil on a sheet pan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss well. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 to 25 minutes, until all the ingredients are crisp. The basil leaves will turn dark and crisp, which is perfectly fine. Reheat the soup, if necessary, beat with a wire whisk until the bread is broken up. Stir in the Parmesanand taste for seasoning. Serve hot sprinkled with the topping and drizzled with additional olive oil.