Pan con tomate (or pa amb tomàquet in Catalan) is a popular Spanish tomato bread, perfect for tapas and snacking anytime from breakfast through dinner. It's extremely easy to make and only requires five ingredients.
1loafciabatta,ends trimmed, cut into 2-inch wide pieces, then halved crosswise (or other crusty bread)
3cloves garlic,peeled
1medium-sized ripe, juicy tomato,halved
Flaked sea salt
Extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
Toast the bread slices either in a toaster or on a baking sheet in a 375°F oven until crispy and golden. Note that the total time will depend on the type and thickness of your bread. It takes about 10 minutes for these ciabatta slices.
Remove the toasted bread from the oven and while the bread is still hot, rub the peeled garlic cloves all over the top of each slice.
Next, rub a halved tomato with the cut side down on each piece of toasted bread. It's ok if the juices dribble down the sides a bit.
Finally, sprinkle the top of each slice of garlic and tomato rubbed bread with flaked sea salt and drizzle with a little extra-virgin olive oil to finish.
Notes
You may not use all the garlic. Once you get about halfway through rubbing each clove it may be harder to hold and rub so you can move onto a fresh clove as needed.
Serve your pan con tomate plain as is, or top it with Spanish ham such as jamón ibérico (if you are lucky enough to get your hands on it) or jamón serrano (a bit easier to source outside of Spain). Anchovies, olives, or Manchego cheese are also great complements to Spanish tomato bread. You may also serve it as an accompaniment to Spanish potato salad.