Pancotto

Pancotto is an Italian soup prepared with pieces of stale bread boiled in broth or water and seasoned. It belongs to the cuisine of recovery, which recalls the peasant culture of never wasting bread, and it is found in every region of Italy with many variations depending on the type of bread, the liquid used and the cooking process. This explains its many names, among them panada in Lombard, pancheuto in Ligurian and pane cottu in Sardinian. In the past, especially in Lombardy and Tuscany, it was used to promote lactation and was served to convalescents. Regional versions differ in whether a soffritto of herbs and vegetables comes first and in when the bread goes in: Tuscan pancotto is wetted with water or broth and cooked about ten minutes before the bread is added, while versions from Latium and Calabria cook everything together from the start.