Pa amb Tomàquet

Pa amb Tomàquet (Catalan Tomato Bread)

The soul of Catalan home cooking: rustic bread rubbed with garlic and ripe tomato, then drizzled with good olive oil and finished with flaky salt. It appears at every meal, from breakfast to late-night dinners, and is the foundation of countless tapas plates.

Prep

8 min

Cook

3 min

Total

11 min

Serves

4

Difficulty

Easy

Recipe ingredients

• •8 slices rustic country bread, pan de payés or a rustic sourdough with an open crumb; sliced about 1.5 cm thick
• •1 clove garlic, halved lengthwise, green germ removed if present
• •2 whole very ripe tomatoes, vine-ripened or a flavorful heirloom; should yield easily when pressed
• •30 ml (2 tbsp) extra-virgin olive oil, a fruity Catalan or Spanish EVOO such as Arbequina or Picual
• •2 g (½ tsp) flaky sea salt, Maldon or a Spanish sal en escamas works well; or use fine sea salt
• •1 pinch optional: grated tomate de penjar or ripe tomato, for grating onto the bread if the tomato flesh is too firm to rub

Steps

1. 1 Toast the bread slices on a grill, in a toaster, or under the broiler until the surface is golden and crisp at the edges but the interior stays slightly yielding, about 2 to 3 minutes. Rubbing is easier on warm bread.
2. 2 Immediately rub one cut face of the halved garlic clove firmly across the warm toasted surface of each slice. You should smell and faintly see the garlic; discard the clove once it becomes too small to hold safely.
3. 3 Cut the tomatoes in half crosswise. Take one half and press the cut, juicy side down directly onto the garlic-rubbed bread, dragging and twisting gently so the pulp and seeds grate into the crumb. The bread should look stained red and damp, not drowned. Repeat with the second half as needed; if the tomato is firm, finely grate it on a box grater and spread the pulp on with a spoon.
4. 4 Drizzle each slice generously with the extra-virgin olive oil, letting it pool into the tomato-soaked crumb.
5. 5 Finish with a pinch of flaky salt. Eat at once while the bread is still warm and the tomato is fresh.