PAPPA AL POMODORO
Tuscan dish made with ripe tomatoes, stale bread, extra virgin olive oil, and fresh basil leaves.
THE UNRAVELING OF JULIA reference: “Pappa al pomodoro. Tomat’, garlic, basil, salt.” – Chapter 17
INGREDIENTS
- 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling
- 2 medium garlic cloves finely chopped
- 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes with juice
- 6 ounces rustic bread day-old or fresh crust removed and torn into 1-inch pieces
- 2 sprigs fresh basil plus torn leaves for serving
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper or more to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
Heat oil: In a large sauté pan or medium saucepan, heat olive oil over medium-high until it’s shimmering.
Add some garlic: Add garlic and cook until fragrant (no more than a minute, or it will brown).
Tomatoes: Add in the tomatoes and the juice (if using plum tomatoes, break up the tomatoes with clean hands, removing the hard ends before adding to the sauce).
Bring to a boil: Bring the tomatoes to a boil and use a wooden spoon to stir, if using plum tomatoes, breaking up the tomatoes while they’re cooking.
Lower heat: Season with the salt and freshly ground pepper, and let the sauce cook and thicken for 20 minutes.
Add bread: Stir in the bread pieces and let simmer with the tomatoes until it’s soft and has a custard like texture. Check the consistency of sauce: If it’s getting too thick, add a little bit of vegetable broth or water (start with a ¼ cup).
Add fresh basil: Finally, stir in the fresh basil and stir to combine.
Serve: Serve immediately, garnished with extra basil and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.
Source: https://www.savoringitaly.com/pappa-al-pomodoro/#recipe
Recipe featured in THE UNRAVELING OF JULIA by Lisa Scottoline
An international bestselling author crafts a gothic “thriller with dashes of romance and excellent twists!” (Karin Slaughter, New York Times bestselling author) in which a young widow inherits a Tuscan estate from a mysterious benefactor and finds herself thrust into the crosshairs of a dangerous conspiracy—twisty, transportive, and haunting, this is suspense with a passport.
Lately, Julia Pritzker is beginning to think she’s cursed. She’s lost her adoptive parents, then her husband is murdered. When she realizes that her horoscope essentially foretold his death, she begins to spiral. She fears her fate is written in the stars, not held in her own hands.
Then a letter arrives out of the blue, informing her that she has inherited a Tuscan villa and vineyard —but her benefactor is a total stranger named Emilia Rossi. Julia has no information about her biological family, so she wonders if Rossi could be a blood relative. Bewildered, she heads to Tuscany for answers.
There, Julia is horrified to discover that Rossi was a paranoid recluse, who believed herself to be a descendent of Duchess Caterina Sforza, a legendary Renaissance ruler. Stunned by her uncanny resemblance to Rossi, and even to Caterina, Julia is further unnerved when she unearths eerie parallels between them, including an obsession with astrology.
Before long, Julia suspects she’s being followed, and strange things begin to happen. Not even a chance meeting with a handsome Florentine can ease her troubled mind. When events turn deadly, Julia’s harrowing struggle becomes a search for her identity, a race to save her sanity, and ultimately, a question of her very survival.