AUBG Bites - Fiesole & Italian Stale Bread

This summer, I was invited to spend a month near Fiesole, Italy. Apart from the beautiful scenery, and the historical richness of the region, something that everyone needs to try at least once in their lifetime is the food Tuscany has to offer.

Italians value quality food, but they also have an interesting approach towards meals. Every dinner I had the pleasure to attend, started no later than 6 pm, about two hours prior to the serving of the first dish. This time is dedicated to the Aperitivo - socializing and having a drink. Followed by several antipasti, three courses, and a cheese and wine platter at around midnight. 

I was keeping a travel journal of everything interesting happening around me, and decided to start writing down recipes and the stories behind them. Over the course of a month, I collected over 50 recipes from local restaurants, friends, and people I met along the way.

During my first week at AUBG, I decided to host a small dinner for some of my new friends. They were interested in preparing all these different dishes, but at the same time either disliked the idea of ‘wasting’ their time, or did not want to spend an awful amount of money on the ingredients. Students know there is no way to have that juicy Florentine style steak on a budget.

Today’s special is a favorite meal of all Tuscans, which is both affordable and easy to prepare. As a result, you have a hearty meal and leftovers for a week. Pappa al pomodoro is a famous warm tomato soup. In a small restaurant in Fiesole, I found a little twist on the recipe - they have turned the soup into a pasta sauce.

My surprise was genuine when I realised what the main ingredient was - stale bread. It was part of every serious meal I found in the region from salads to desserts. Those people really like their bread stale.

Ingredients

 

• 100 grams of stale bread (crust removed, finely sliced) for every 400 grams of tinned tomatoes
• 200 ml of veal stock
• 2 large onions
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 1 sprig of basil
• 1 tsp sugar
• Olive oil
• Spices - salt, black & red pepper, chilli flakes (to taste)

 

Instructions

 

1. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Dice the onions and cook them together with the spices for about 20 minutes. Strain the tinned tomatoes and put them in the saucepan (save the tomato juice for later).
2. Add the finely chopped garlic, basil, and sugar, and cook for five minutes. Then mix in the stale bread with the veal stock and the reserved tomato juice. Let it simmer for another 10 minutes.
3. Add it to your pasta (preferably Fusilli) and you are ready to serve.

 

 

This recipe is a little spicy and low in cost, the whole meal being around 7.12 leva (€3.64). It is also just the first course of a full Italian meal that part of our reporting team cooked together.

For the full experience, you may also have Panzanella, beans with sage, a rotisserie chicken, a tiramisu, and of course to have a glass of good Chianti. However, of them all, the pasta was the most filling and budget-friendly.

 

Edited by: Vasil Paskov & David Mitov