A couple months ago, I went to a Spanish restaurant in New York with my family. We had some of the most amazing tapas including patatas bravas, paella, and a charcuterie board. Of all the items we ordered, the simplest dish was the pan con tomate, or bread with tomato. There were only a couple of ingredients in the dish, but it was still very delicious. I guess sometimes the simplest ingredients can still yield some amazing flavors. When the tomato bread arrived, it was smeared in tomatoes, garlic, and olive oil, and was just delicious in all its simplicity. Ever since I had pan con tomate, I’ve been craving it at least once a month. This morning, I stopped by the North Market in Columbus to pick up some fresh produce. I stopped by the Mini Super and saw some heirloom tomatoes for sale. I picked up a couple of heirloom tomatoes and made my way to Omega Artisan Breads. I picked up a baguette and then headed home to make some pan con tomate. I warmed up the oven, sliced up the baguette into pieces, baked the bread in the oven for a couple minutes, rubbed on some garlic, and topped with fresh heirloom tomatoes as I watched my former college football team play on television. We won the game, which made the pan con tomate taste even sweeter. My version is a bit different from the version I had at Boqueria in SoHo, but it was still very tasty.
Pan Con Tomate:
· Half a Baguette, sliced in half lengthwise with some pieces sliced diagonally
· 1 teaspoon olive oil
· 1 large heirloom tomato, half sliced into pieces, and half diced very fine
· 1 garlic clove
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
· ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
· 1 sprig of fresh basil, chiffonade (optional)
Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
2) Place the sliced pieces of baguette in one layer on the baking sheet. Drizzle with some olive oil. Once the oven reaches 375°F, place the baking sheet in the oven. Toast the bread in the oven for 3 minutes.
3) Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Rub a garlic clove all over the pieces of bread. Place the bread back in the oven for another 3 minutes.
4) Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Top the pieces of bread with the tomatoes, salt, and pepper. If desired, top the tomato bread with basil.
Takeaways: You can also roast garlic ahead of time and spread the roasted garlic on the toasted bread. Roasted garlic is delicious and spreads like butter once roasted. This simple dish can be customized to your liking.