Bread soup – Zuppa di Pane

Bread soup

The Zuppa di Pane, literally bread soup, is very similar to the famous ribollita, but simpler to do. This Tuscan recipe is also based on stale Tuscan bread and is not tyipical of Florence Italy in particular, but of Maremma, the southern part of Tuscany. There is where I was born, and this delicious soup was often prepared by my mother. Today I want to show you how to prepare the bread soup with pressure cooking; this saves a lot of time and also some natural gas or electricity in your kitchen.

 

 

 

Bread soup Ingredients

Here are the ingredients for a perfect bread soup:

• one onion
• one carrot
• one zucchini
• one potato
• chard 300 gr
• pinto beans (dry 200 gr or boiled already 500 gr)
• tomato concentrate 1 tablespoon
• Tuscan bread 250 gr
• extravergine olive oil 8 tablespoons

Bread soup recipe

Here is the recipe for the bread soup. If you plan to use boiled pinto beans, go to step 3 (I suggest you cook beans on your own for a better rersult).

Step 1: place dry pinto beans in cold water at least 12 hours before;

Step 2: boil pinto beans into 1.3 liters of salted water in a pressure cooker for 30 mins;

Step 3: with a mixer, obtain a cream from about 3/4 of the boiled beans and some of their water. Pour the cream back with the other boiled beans; then clean the pressure cooker because you need it again;

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 4: chop up the onion and let it sautée in the extravergine olive oil inside the pressure cooker;

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 5: add the potato, carrot and zucchini reduced in small cubes;

 

 

 

 

 

Step 6: mix the tomato concentrate with a bit of hot water and add it to the cooker;

Step 7: add the chard reduced in slices;

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 8: add the pinto beans cream, half liter of water and a pinch of salt;

 

 

 

 

Step 9: now close the pressure cooker and let it cook for 40 minutes;

Step 10: open the cooker, taste and eventually adjust salt;

Step 11: serve on a dish on top of three thin slices of stale Tuscan bread, seasoning with oil and pepper. Wait 5-7 minutes before tasting, give bread the time to absorb the soup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just like the ribollita, if you don’t finish the bread soup, you can just add the remaining bread to the pan. Next day, you can re-boil the bread soup and eat it again. It’s good for a couple of days.