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Pan Con Tomate
Pan Con Tomate: A Popular Tapa
Pan Con Tomate is a Catalan recipe using olive oil, tomatoes and bread. It translates in English to “Bread with tomato”. It’s served tapas style alongside other delicious eats.
Toasting The Bread in a Pan
The best part about this dish is that everyone makes it differently. Some toast the bread, others don’t. Some think garlic is essential, others omit it. Walk into any Barcelona restaurant or cafe and there will be Pan Con Tomate on the menu. It’s always good, but the flavors and cooking methods can vary.
My method is to toast the bread in a cast-iron skillet in a little olive oil. This works so well because you get a nice crisp on the top of the baguette slices.
Rub a Raw Garlic Clove into the Bread
Yep, you heard me. In this recipe, we want the aroma of garlic, just a hint. That’s why rubbing a raw peeled garlic clove into the bread will create a delicious flavor that’s not overpowering.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 ripe roma or beefsteak tomatoes
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 baguette, cut in half lengthwise and sliced into 4 inch pieces see notes
- Olive oil
- Flaky sea salt
- Black Pepper
Method
- Start by cutting the baguette in half, and slicing into small 4-6 inch pieces.
- Brush the tops of the baguette pieces with olive oil.
- Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Place each slice of bread, face down in the pan. Cook for about 3-4 minutes or until crispy.
- Meanwhile, cut the tomatoes and mash them on a cutting board using the back of a fork or a potato masher. Make sure you preserve the tomato juices.
- Remove the bread from the pan, and rub the raw garlic clove on the surface of each slice of baguette.
- Press the mashed tomato into the bread using the back of a fork.
- Sprinkle a little flaky sea salt over the top, a little black pepper, and add a small drizzle of olive oil, if desired.
Meghan Lavin
