1. Chop finely the onion, the carrot and the celery.
2. Sauté them with a few tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil in a large pot
3. Soak the stale bread – cut into slices – into cold water.
4. When the vegetables are golden brown, pour into the pot the tomato purée and let it simmer for about 15 minutes.
5. Squeeze the stale bread with your hands to remove all the water and crumble the bread into the tomato sauce.
6. Let it cook for about 10 minutes.
7. Chop finely the garlic and add it to the tomato bread soup along with some basil leaves.
8. Remove from the heat and pour into half glass of extra-virgin olive oil.
9. Let it rest before serving or before using it to fill fresh ravioli.

Fresh pasta

1. Sift the plain flour with the semolina flour, place it on a wooden flat surface and make a well in the middle.
2. Whisk eggs with a pinch of salt and pour them in the middle of the flour.
3. Add in the extra-virgin olive oil.
4. Stir flour and eggs with a fork, then start kneading the dough, pouring cold water little by little, until the dough gets soft, elastic and it doesn’t stick to your fingers anymore.
5. Let it rest for about 30 minutes at room temperature.
6. Now, roll the dough. You can use a classic rolling-pin or the pasta maker: keep rolling and flipping and rolling and flipping until you get a dough that is paper thin. Cut out round shapes with a cookie cutter.
7. Place a teaspoon of filling in the centre of each circle of pasta and crimp into a semicircle, sealing the edges.
8. Place them aside until you’re done.
9. Boil them for a few minutes, until they float to the surface and the pasta is soft.
10. Serve them with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil, grated cheese and a leaf of basil.