Bread and Tomato Soup with Spinach and Parmesan

The Tuscan bread soup called acquacotta, which translates from the Italian as “cooked water,” makes thrifty use of day-old bread and other leftovers, transforming them into a rustic, satisfying dish. It’s a cousin of the better-known pappa al pomodoro, another type of Tuscan bread and tomato soup. But whereas pappa al pomodoro simmers bread in a tomatoey broth, for acquacotta, the bread is placed in bowls, then the soup is ladled on top. Oftentimes, individual bowlfuls of acquacotta are finished with a poached egg. In our version, we skip the egg but add fresh spinach (or arugula) for color and fresh, minerally flavor.