"Papa"

I need to be better about posting on this blog. So much of our life is all about Harper, it's hard to come up with things to add here. But today I have one!

When I lived in Italy for a semester, we ate at one restaurant for lunch every weekday as part of our cost included in studying abroad. By far my favorite dish to eat was Papa al Pomodoro and I was so excited whenever it was on our fixed menu that day. It actually looked like the cook would take all the random leftovers at the restaurant and throw them into a pot and served it. But it was the yummiest concoction I could've ever hoped for!

A few years ago I found a very similar dish in one of Rachael Ray's cookbooks and was so excited to make it. Her version runs a very close second to the authenic one I was used to, and has easily become one of Jon and mine's favorite dishes. We've actually been waiting for the weather to get colder so we could have a good excuse to make some. This weekend we got our wish and he whipped it up last night. We got into our comfies and curled up on the couch with our bowls and I think we said "MmmMmMmM" about a hundred times each! I'm posting the recipe below with some of my own suggestions.

Enjoy!

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil - plus some for drizzling
4-6 cloves garlic, chopped -we use at least 6-8, but we really love garlic
1 medium to large onion, finely chopped
1 can diced tomatoes (15 ounces)
1 ocan crushed tomatoes (28 ounces)
Salt and pepper
1 quart chicken stock
4 cups stale bread (about 1/2 pound), chopped or torn - for our latest batch we used a sourdough baguette and left it out for 3 days. We weren't able to make it as soon as we had hoped so I tossed it into a ziploc and froze it. It's been our best bread yet.
2 cans small white beans – smaller than cannellini beans (15 ounces each), such as Goya brand
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, to pass at the table (we use plain' ole shredded parmesean. Cheaper and easier to find but just as good)
10 fresh basil leaves, torn (optional) - not optional in our opinions. :)

Preparation
Heat a medium soup pot over medium heat. Add 3 tablespoons of EVOO, about three turns around the pan, garlic and three quarters of the onion. Cook for 7-8 minutes, then add the diced tomatoes and crushed tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Add the stock and raise the heat to make the soup bubble. Reduce the heat to simmer and add the bread and beans. Stir the soup as it simmers, until it thickens to a stew-like consistency. Turn off the heat, adjust the seasonings and ladle the soup into shallow bowls. Top with grated cheese, an additional drizzle of EVOO and a spoonful of reserved finely chopped raw onions. Torn basil is an optional garnish.



This is a 30-minute meal but you really need to let all the flavors simmer for a good 20 minutes in order to get a really good batch.