Adventures in Cooking: Pappa al Pomodoro

Last weekend, Cagatay and I did absolutely nothing - partially because it was pouring rain out (and had been for the last week) but mostly because he came down with a cold/flu. So, like the good girlfriend that I am, I made him soup. I went with Martha Stewart Living's Pappa al Pomodoro, mostly because I had successfully tackled it once before.

In the version I have, the ingredients are pretty simple: olive oil, onion, garlic, red-pepper flakes, bread, tomatoes, chicken stock, and cheese. (Oddly, when I look at the recipe at marthastewart.com, it's far more complicated, adding leeks and white wine.) You essentially throw them all into the pot, stir it around some, and 15 minutes later, you have this wonderful, hearty soup.

So far it's worked well, despite my confusion about one major thing: How do you know how much an ounce of bread is without a scale? In my cut-down version (hers serves 6 to 8), the recipe calls for 3 ounces of 1/2-inch cubed bread. I don't know how to translate that into anything; I tried Googling it but got no help there. So instead, I've just winged it. This last time, I stopped when I ran out of bread. Which was this much:

Is that too much? Too little? My guess is that it's way too much. I am desperately waiting for your insight!