Stale Bread? Not to Worry

People who grew up in Southeast Asia tend to be great lovers of rice -- A Korean friend of mine gets nervous whenever there isn't a heaping bowl of it at the table -- and Italians are much the same about bread. A meal wouldn't be a meal without a loaf at table, and lots of people even chew down a slice while eating pasta (and then wipe up the drippings with the crust, what's called fare la scarpetta). Because of this love of bread we had 5 bakeries within a 5-minute walk from our house in Florence, and now that we're out in the country the situation hasn't changed much: We've got 3 bakeries within walking distance. Problem is, sometimes we buy too much and some goes stale.

Or is this a problem? In Tuscany it's really not; the bread, which is baked directly on the floor of the oven, has a very firm crust and firm crumb as well, and can therefore be wet down without turning into a paste. At which point, if it's quite hot we make panzanella, an amazingly refreshing, cool bread salad. If it's not quite so hot, or if we have good sun-ripened tomatoes, we make pappa al pomodoro, which sounds like kid's food but is perfect for people of all ages. And if we're in the dead of winter, we make ribollita, bread, bean and kale soup. Lots of it, and enjoy it for days.
More ideas for stale bread