Tomato and Bread Soup (r T)

Note 1: Original recipe called for 5 Tbsp olive oil. This much was totally unnecessary. Note 2: Original recipe called for regular chicken stock Note 3: We didnt add in the salt Optional: 2 Tbsp Romano cheese.. we didnt use it Note 4: This water wasnt in the original recipe. Why we added it is because the bread we used was really dry. So the extra water is really dependent on how dry your bread is...if not to dry then you can try it without adding any water...just use the liquid from the tomatoes and broth. But check it!! This is very, very important. Heat soup pot with oil to hot. Add garlic, onions and oregano and cook about 8 min on medium-low heat. The onions will be translucent. Make sure to stir so that the garlic doesnt burn. Before cubing the bread wipe individual slices on each side with clove of garlic to give the bread more flavor. I cubed the bread into about 1 1/2" cubes. I wanted to make sure that when the dish was completed that the bread would still be in chunks not totally disintegrated into the mushy glob. Add bread cubes into the soup pot and stir to coat bread. Add canned tomatoes, fresh tomatoes; mix well. (You have fresh and canned in this recipe so that you will have the different textures of them for contrast.) Add salt and chicken broth, cover, bring to boil, reduce to simmer and cook 1 hr. VERY IMPORTANT that you stir it every 5 - 10 min to avoid sticking to the bottom of the pot. The original recipe said to stir it every 10 min but we found because we had lowered the oil that we had to stir it every 5 min. Keep a close watch on it at this point. After the soup is cooked about 30 min add the basil and mix well. Cook for another 30 min. It will look more like a porridge then a soup. Can add optional grated Romano cheese on top after it is plated. Serving Size: 1 C If you want it for a side dish then I would use the 1 C as a serving size and it would serve 9 people. If you want it for a main dish then I would go at least 2 C and then it would serve only 4 people. This was absolutely incredible!! Jeff and I ate 2 servings each. I dont often make anything more then once but I will make this many, many times in the future. Entered into MasterCook and tested for you by Reggie & Jeff Dwork <reggie@reggie.com> NOTES : Cal 206.1 Total Fat 5.4g Sat Fat 0.9g Carb 34.4g Fib 3.4g Pro 10g Sod 665mg CFF 21.3% Recipe by: Cucina Amore, Nick Stellino Posted to EAT-LF Digest by Reggie Dwork <reggie@reggie.com> on May 17, 1998