Over the Easter weekend I ducked up to Auckland to see The Winter’s Tale, one of the plays being staged by the Bridge Project currently touring the world. With time to spare beforehand I ended up in Borders, and it must be said, the Auckland branch of this bookselling juggernaut has the most bewildering layout. I found myself going round and round in circles trying to get out of the childrens’ section – which I have no idea how I got into anyway – and into the open air.

Serendipitously though, quietly tucked behind the childrens’ section was a veritable goldmine of sale-priced cookbooks. It was here that I found, for $10, Italian Comfort Food by the Scotto family, who run Fresco by Scotto in New York. I normally avoid American cookbooks as the measurements and different names for ingredients are annoying to get my head around. Like measuring butter in sticks and cups. Also not many have appealed to me (apart from the delicious Barefoot Contessa). But this book is gorgeous – a complete bargain at such a price. I’ve already made several recipes from it, including this amazing soup…

Papa Pomodoro

This is a simple but hearty tomato soup, perfect for the increasingly bitter weather we are experiencing lately.

• olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 leek, finely diced
• 2x 400g can crushed tomatoes
• 750mls good chicken or vegetable stock
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 a loaf stale, good bread, diced small
• handful fresh basil

In a good sized pot, saute the garlic in the olive oil for 2 minutes. Add the leeks and continue to saute till the mixture is soft. Add the tomatoes and their juice. If you feel like you have particularly bland canned tomatoes you may want to add a spoon or two of tomato paste to oomph up the flavour. Add the stock and simmer for 30 minutes, or until you see the soup start to thicken a little.

At the honey, bread, and chopped basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Let the soup rest for half an hour before serving. This is important for the texture and to allow the flavours to develop. Quickly reheat and serve.

It’s easy, cheap, healthy comfort food, the sort of thing the Italians do so well and which we could do well to learn from!

Laura Vincent

Come visit me at my stupedous blog Hungry and Frozen for more food-related hijinks…