Tuscan Bread Soup for Ramadan

Tuscan Bread Soup for Ramadan June 5, 2017

On the 4th day of Ramadan, I was the contributing writer on the AltMuslim blog for the series, Ramadan 2017 – 30 Days 30 Writers.

Ramadan Prep? What Prep? ‘I Just Wing it.’

I promise I was paying attention. I knew it was coming. The weekly sermons leading up to Ramadan kept reminding us about preparing. How to fast. When to fast. What to do, what not to do. The emotional and spiritual work that we should do. Last Friday the sermon was about the levels of fasting.

kite flyingBig sis and I discussed how we do Ramadan food. I explained to her that I make breakfast for everyone, it doesn’t matter very much what they eat as long as it includes a protein. So, everyone chooses the night before. For dinners, we don’t change our eating style that much, except instead of the “eat when you are hungry” rule, we sit together and eat.

I promised to share the recipe for the soup we made on Day 3 of Ramadan. Well, we are on Day 9 now, but here’s the recipe, shared by Magda back about 16 years ago. It’s one of my favorites.

Tuscan Bread Soup

2# fresh ripe tomatoes

4 cloves garlic

1 medium onion

1/2 bunch fresh basil

2T olive oil

3 thick slices of baguette or something rustic

2 1/2 c stock

salt

pepper

red pepper flakes

Parmesan Cheese

In Magda’s recipe she goes through the detailed process of removing the skins of the tomatoes. In truth, I did it that way the first 2 times I made the soup. Now, I roughly chop up any tomatoes I have in the house, even those grape tomatoes that have started to go soft and throw them in the pot with the onions, garlic and basil. At this point I also add the seasonings.

Then I sauté it all until the tomatoes give up their juices and get saucy. Then I pour in a box of chicken stock (or veggie if my niece is visiting) and simmer for 10+ minutes.

About this time I stick the sliced baguette in the oven to toast. Broil on low.

After that, I remove the basil stems and use the immersion blender and smooth the soup out. Usually I like my soup a little chunky, so if you are like me you don’t have to blend it. Or, you can leave it a little chunky. Do a little taste to see if you need to adjust the S&P.

Then, to plate, I put a piece of toasted bread in the bottom of the bowl (crock or mug) and ladle the soup over it. Then, sprinkle the parmesan cheese on top. Add as much or as little as you like.

I often make this with grilled cheese sandwiches for a grownup throwback meal because its soo much yummier than the canned soup. But you can serve this as a starter or main course with a little chicken or salad on the side. The bread on the bottom doesn’t get too soggy and it adds a little body and crunch to each bite.

I hope you enjoy!

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PS. The Wudu Cling is still on sale! Here are the links: Amazon: Yellow Blue or Etsy


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