Tomato-Bread Soup with Poached Egg Bruschetta

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Using a small paring knife core the fresh tomatoes and score and X on the bottom of each one. Blanch them in the boiling water for 30 seconds and quickly remove them to a bowl of iced water. Remove them from the water, peel and chop them. Drain the can of tomatoes reserving the juice. Chop the whole canned tomatoes and add them back to their juice. Combine them with the fresh tomatoes.

Heat a large soup pot over medium heat. Add 1 cup of the olive oil and sauté the garlic until golden brown. Pour all of the chopped tomato and their juices (and Calabrian chili if using) into the pot and bring to a simmer. Cook for 20-30 minutes. Add the diced bread and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. Stir occasionally to break up the bread pieces.

To achieve the best texture I prefer to pass this soup through a food mill. If you don’t have a food mill you can whisk the soup well until the bread is completely broken up and/or pulse it in a blender. Fold in the basil and remaining olive oil. Taste for salt and pepper.

To serve set a bruschetta or thick crostini in the bottom of a shallow bowl. Ladle the warm soup over the bruschetta so it is just barely protruding from the soup. Set one poached egg on top of each bruschetta, season eggs with cracked black pepper, flake salt and a drizzle of olive oil and serve immediately.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Using a sharp bread knife slice the bread into neat, even, thin slices. If the baguette being used is on the narrow side you can slice on a diagonal bias so the crostini aren’t too small.

In a mixing bowl drizzle the olive oil over the bread slices while gently tossing to coat evenly, sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper (and the grated parmesan if using) and quickly toss again.

Arrange the seasoned and oiled crostini on a baking sheet and bake until crisp and golden brown on the outside, approx. 12 minutes. Make sure no moisture is left in the crostini or they will stall and soften while in storage.


*For crisp bruschetta follow the same instructions but use larger ciabatta or batard type loaf. Cut the bread thicker approx. 1/3-1/2 inch and cook approx. 15-16 minutes.

**Alternately for fresh bruschetta that is crisp outside and soft inside the thick sliced bread can be quickly grilled or broiled, but this version does not store well and needs to be consumed immediately.

Preheat sous vide bath to 147 degrees F (or desired temp for your perfect egg). Place eggs in the sous vide bath and cook for about one hour. The eggs can remain in the bath for up to 3 hours at maximum.

Crack eggs one at a time into a bowl and carefully move to each soup bowl with a spoon discarding of the excess watery white that remains in the first bowl. Serve immediately.

*Alternately eggs can be chilled in the shell in ice water or cold running water and reserved for later use. They can be kept refrigerated for up to a week and can be reheated in the sous vide bath at 140 degrees F for 30 minutes prior to serving.