Bill Telepan's Tomato Bread Soup

This is urgent, everyone, pay attention. I'm going to be forced to be bossy - it's that serious a situation. It's Wednesday, right? That must mean that there's a farmer's market in your area. If there's not, I send condolences and prayers for strength, as you'll have to wait until tomorrow. I'm just so sorry. The rest of you, put down what you're doing and get yourself to the market right now. Before you leave, jot down a shopping list:

-three pounds of plum tomatoes (this, if you're as fortunate as we have been with this ridiculously perfect summer, shouldn't set you back more then four or five dollars)

-a bunch of basil (unless you're lucky enough to have a plant of it growing on your fire escape or balcony or backyard garden)

-sourdough bread

-ricotta salata (if you've got a market that sells cheese, that is. You'll have to make a detour, otherwise, to your cheese store. It's okay, it's worth it.)

(You've got the rest - onions, garlic, olive oil, salt - lying around the house already, right? Of course you do.)

Then, clear your schedule for this evening and go home to make this soup - this totally incredible soup that rendered us, and Ben's mother, practically speechless when we first ate it on Monday night. It's as simple as could possibly be - just a bunch of chunked plum tomatoes (ours were so perfect they were deep red and dripping with juice) cooked for an hour with onion and garlic, but then - then! - you stir in cubes of bread and let them simmer in the soup before serving it with little strips of basil and a snow-white grating of ricotta salata, and suddenly you're faced with what has turned out to be the best summer soup you ever ate, I swear it.

Take a cooled spoonful in your mouth (if you can wait long enough for it to cool, that is) - you'll feel the bread, like custard, suspended in the gently silky tomatoes, the basil adding perfume and heaven-sent flavor, the crumbly, dry-ish cheese providing salt and kicky texture.  The whole thing will be exquisite. Swallowing will be tragic - it's one less spoonful you've got to savor. You might swear to never eat anything else ever again.

The recipe comes from Bill Telepan (I can't for the life of me remember its context in the NYT), but his version adds a can of peeled tomatoes. Perhaps, if your plum tomatoes were a bit mealy and less than perfect or if you were making this in winter, I could see why you'd be interested in adding canned ones, but with the glorious specimens available right now? It just seems silly. Also, he says to use stale sourdough and soak the cubes in water before squeezing them by the handful and cooking them in the soup. I'm sure that's fine, but my bread was fresh and it worked perfectly, so you can go either way on this one. Third of all, he says to peel and de-seed your tomatoes. I am far, far too lazy for that kind of behavior, but I am testimony to the fact that it doesn't matter at all - with seeds and peels, this soup is still one of the best things I've cooked all summer.

Okay, that's it, enough reading, off you go. You've got tomatoes to buy and soup to prepare. And if I may offer one more bit of advice, buy twice the amount of tomatoes required. Because when you're standing in front of your stove looking down at an empty soup pot, wondering what could have possessed you to be so generous as to share your meal with the people at your table, you'll feel some relief at the prospect of being able to whip up another batch, right then and there.

Tomato Bread Soup
Serves 3 to 4

3 pounds plum tomatoes
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, minced
3 cloves garlic
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups sourdough bread, without crusts, cut into small cubes
1/2 cup grated ricotta salata
1 tablespoon minced fresh basil leaves

1. Core and quarter plum tomatoes. Place tomatoes in food processor and pulse to chop, but not too fine.

2. Heat oil in 4-quart saucepan. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft, but not browned. Add tomatoes and their juices. Season with salt and pepper, bring to a slow simmer and cook 45 minutes, covered, stirring from time to time.

3. When the soup has simmered for 45 minutes, stir the bread cubes into the soup and simmer for an additional 10 to 15 minutes. Check the seasoning.

4. Serve hot or at room temperature, with grated ricotta salata and minced basil strewn on each serving.

Comments

[Andrea]

This looks and sounds amazing! Thank you for another reason to buy pounds and pounds of tomatoes! I just made gazpacho last week and it was the perfect thing in all this heat.. but I think this will be what I use the next batch of tomatoes for, and the reason I will go out and find ricotta salata for the first time ever! :)

[Carmen]

I'm off to the market!!! And I even have my own basil plant...this is going to be so good!!!!

[Kevin]

Wow. Thank you for this. I happen to be lucky enough to not only grow my own basil - but my own tomatoes as well. I will definitely be trying this.

[anne]

I keep coming back just too look at the picture - it looks so damn good! I am following your instructions and marching to purchase a barrel of tomoatos

[Mary]

Oui chef. I'm on my way out to the market right now.

[Nosheteria]

Sir, Yes Sir! (or ma'am)

[ann]

mmmmm... I love tomato/bread soup. Never heard of doing it with sourdough though. I guess that's why Mr Telepan has his own restaurant and I don't!
Thanks Luisa!

[shauna]

I'm listening! I swear.

Okay, I have to bake a loaf of gluten-free bread, and it won't be sourdough, but I can't imagine that matters so much, if the tomatoes are this good.

Hm...I know what we're having for dinner tomorrow night.

[black]

I guess the sourdough can be replaced with a normal bread, i agree here with Shauna, i don't think you get any relevant taste out of sourdough bread in a soup anyway.

This recipe is sortof similar to the tuscan "Pappa con il pomodoro", a thick tuscan tomato-bread soup I made a while back (shameful plug ;)):

http://thetaoofcooking.com/2007/08/16/pappa-con-il-pomodoro/

[radish]

Mmmm... this is amazing - will have to make super soon - i have a soup hanging out in my fridge already, and the lima beans are soaking. But this sounds stunning!

[Hillary]

I love the taste of tomato soup but always find that I want more texture - this soup seems to solve my problem. Thank you, thank you!

[Lia]

You sure know how to sell a recipe! I got a ton of tomatoes from my CSA on Saturday and have been trying to use them up all week. I'm working at home today and just so happen to have all the ingredients except the cheese. Think parmesan would be ok?

And quick side note: I'm making the Saffron Chard tart you wrote about months ago for dinner tonight. I make it practically every week!!

[Luisa]

Andrea - how exciting, first time ricotta-salata eater! Hope you like this as much as I did.

Carmen - lucky you. We've got a balcony now, but I still don't have any herbs out there...

Kevin - ooooh, envy! Homegrown tomatoes and basil must be such a treat - you just stroll outdoors and there they all are! I'm glad you take such advantage of having a garden.

Anne - I'm glad you said that, since I snapped that shot and then my camera battery promptly died, leaving me no choice but to post that photo.

Mary and Adrienne - hee, I like your attitude. You ladies know what's good for you! :)

Ann - you're welcome, my friend! Have fun eating it.

Shauna - you'll have to let us know how the gluten-free version came out. I'd say, as long as it's pretty plain bread, you'll have a good run of it.

Black - it certainly is a close cousin of pappa al pomodoro... I wouldn't say that the sourdough contributes nothing, though. That lovely, faint astringency certainly adds a nice flavor to the sweet and soupy tomatoes. I used a white levain, which was delicious. Cubed baguette could work, too. Or Iggy's francese... I have a feeling, as Shauna says, that if your tomatoes are stellar, then you're pretty much all set.

Radish - lima beans soaking? Please do tell more...

Hillary - oh, then you'll love this. There's so much wonderful texture going on here - you'll want to just sit back and savor each mouthful!

Lia - I think parmesan would be fine, though it has a lot more character and depth than ricotta salata, which is sort of a perfect end-of-summer cheese because it's on the blandish side but complements the fruity tomatoes so well. But still, I'd definitely try this with parmesan rather than skip it because you're waiting for the right cheese. And I'm so pleased you like that chard tart so much. I loved it, too.

[gemma]

you are so convincing in your stunning description of this soup that I ALMOST went out and bought all the ingredients but then I remembered that I hate tomatoes xx

[Erik]

Aw Gemma beat me to it. I was going to post that if this receipe intices Gemma it will truly be something special! I say we force the issue...

[shana]

oh, Luisa, you're my hero. this is exactly what i wanted for dinner, i'm going to union square tonight.

[tokyoastrogirl]

Luisa- do you need to toast the bread cubes before adding them to the soup, or just add them as is?

Thanks!

[Tana]

What a beautiful photo: such vibrant colors that can only come from the freshest food in the world. Gorgeous.

[Luisa]

Gemma - I knew you'd be rolling your eyes at this one, but I'm impressed at how close I got to swaying you! :)

Erik - That'll be the day pigs fly! More for us, though, so there. Oh, and I never got back to you on your other comment: I've never made Frankfurter Gruene Sosse - I've eaten it, though. There are like 900 ingredients in that thing!

Shana - yay! Enjoy.

Tokyoastrogirl - no! no toasting. These aren't croutons, they're filler and thickener...they get all swollen and plump from those 15 minutes in the soup and literally turn to custard. With the stale bread soaked in water, then squeezed dry I imagine it'd be similar.

Tana - Thank you! I realized, as we ate, that those tomatoes must have literally been picked if not that morning, then at most the day before. Pretty special, that. And delicious, of course.

[Lydia]

This looks amazing -- just the kind of soup I love. There's a farm stand up the road that sells the most beautiful plum tomatoes. I buy five pounds at a time and slow-roast them in the oven, and then freeze for the winter. Now I'll have to buy a few extra pounds and make soup!

[bryan]

if you take the onion out of the recipe and up the bread and don't cook this, you've got my recipe for bread salad. Quick, easy and so very nice against any meat or fish dish in the late summer.

The soup looks lovely and I'm going to make it this weekend, if it stays cool here in Chicago.

[Tea]

I was off blog reading yesterday, due to work, but then ran into Molly at the farmers' market as she was in search of tomatoes. "Did you read Luisa's post?" she asked me. I can now see why--I'll be heading out to get my own tomatoes soon!

[Jason]

I made this last night and it's all that was advertised. It was just fantastic and my girlfriend was very impressed!

[lolobstersquad]

this is exactly like spanish bread and tomato soup, except we put mint in at the end. maybe it´ll do you good, something cool after the jalapeño experience.

[Luisa]

Lydia - every summer I tell myself to go out and get a huge bag of plum tomatoes, slow-roast them and keep them for those dark, gray days and each year I poop out. Not this year, darnit!

Bryan - panzanella is such a delicious thing, isn't it? I haven't yet made it this summer, I've been too busy just eating the tomatoes right from the market, still warm from the sun.

Tea - I love this story! I hope you both enjoyed the soup. :)

Jason - yay! Girlfriend impressed, bellies happy - I'm thrilled.

Ximena - mint would be a great addition. Do you eat this cold in Spain?

[Lauren]

I made this last night with a mixture of Roma and heirloom tomatoes from my CSA. It was great! Thanks for the recipe!

[claudia]

because i trust you - after all we've been through together... i am making this on tuesday for a friend's birthday dinner. i am also remaking the incredible rustic plum cake.... !!!

[Rosanna]

Thank you so much for mentioning this recipe in the Eatwell yahoo group list. We tried it tonight with our tomatoes for the week, and it was fantastic! We were also lucky enough to find ricotta salata at the Farmstead Cheese and Wine shop at the Alameda Marketplace, just down the street. This is definitely a recipe I'll make again, and I might possibly buy Bill Telepan's book. Thanks a bunch!

[Honeybee]

Sadly I have some office party to attend tonight and I'll have to wait until tomorrow before I can make and eat this.

[Sevil]

On Sunday I picked up 3 pounds of tomatoes from the Ditmas Park farmer's market to prepare this recipe (they only had regular, not roma). I used sourdough wholewheat (also from the market) and substituted cilantro (I had some already and didn't want it to go to waste) and french feta (also on hand). My mate and I were thoroughly pleased with the results! The cilantro certainly added a different flair to the soup and because the feta is already salty I used less salt in its seasoning. Thanks for sharing this recipe!

[paulina]

luisa--thanks so much for posting the recipe! i literally wept joyful tears over my leftovers tonight, which were perfect straight from the fridge with a hunk of sourdough a softboiled egg and a cucumber salad on the side. :-)

[Luisa]

I'm so glad you all took (or are going to) my advice! Happy Tomato Soup Eating, everyone.

[Honeybee]

The soup is simmering as I type, the sourdough bread, basil and ricotta are standing by. I'm very much looking forward to this meal!

[Leland]

This soup is wonderful. Thanks for posting it! And for inspiring me to finally cook something.

[mbbored]

Oh my goodness. That was the best soup I've ever had. I made it last night for my boyfriend's birthday, as he's obsessed with tomatoes, along with your plum crumble and some fig ice cream. His sister who HATES tomatoes (I guess he got all the tomato genes) was convinced to take one bite, then went through 3 bowls and took my copy of the recipe home with her. We're making this again, and soon.

[Luisa]

Leland - hooray! I'm so glad this is what ended your spell :)

mbbored - that's fantastic! A tomato-hater comes around - how thrilling.

[Leah]

Luisa, that garlic should be minced, right?

[Elizabeth]

The soup is wonderful - thanks for posting it! And I made the plum crumble as well - also delicious. I am now full and happy.

[Amy and Jonny]

Reminds me of a recent post we wrote on this same meal. It was a recreation of part of a meal we ate in Florence, ours is a bit different, but i think the addition of the ricotta salata sounds nice! For a few different additions to a Tuscan Bread Soup, check out our recipe (which was actually taken from the recipe on the wall of the restaurant we ate at): http://neverfull.wordpress.com/2007/10/03/the-remake-was-a-success-and-its-even-vegetarian/

amy @ neverfull.wordpress.com

[Nali]

I want to make this so badly although it is 2 am and I live in China in the northeast and we are just recovering from a very cold winter. That being said, I have loved reading about your recipes, especially the ones about tomatoes as they are one of my favorite things in the world. Thank you for helping me while I am eating tons and tons of Chinese food. I am a born and raised California who used to live in NYC.