Pan Con Tomate, My Way

Grate tomatoes and spoon 'em over garlicky grilled bread, that's the gist.

Pan Con Tomate, My Way comes together with garlicky grilled bread and a humble mixture of grated tomatoes, good olive oil, and kosher salt. Basil adds a fresh and sweet note that makes it taste even more like late-Summer. It’s crunchy, it’s juicy, and you’ll want to drink the leftover tomato mixture off of the plate. This is my dream, lazy seasonal meal and *this* is the time of year you should make it.

Pan Con Tomate is an iconic Spanish dish of bread, sometimes toasted sometimes not, that’s topped with grated tomatoes. Grating tomatoes into a bowl creates a raw, spoonable sauce. It’s a perfect dish in its own right. It doesn’t *need* any changes but I’ll make a version of this dish with whatever feels inspiring and easy. This week we’re swimming in heirloom garden tomatoes and basil that my dad keeps pawning off on us, which is a delicious problem to have. Plus, we always have a good country sourdough loaf from our local bakery, so here we are, eating another tomato toast for dinner.

Here’s how we threw this dish together last night. My husband grilled up thick slices of a country loaf from our local bakery. He likes to brush them with a combo of melted butter and olive oil before they hit the grill, which I highly recommend. Once they were grilled, I rubbed them with a sliced garlic clove while they were still warm. By the way, save that tip - it’ll make your toasts GARLICKY. While my husband grilled the bread I grated a couple of heirloom tomatoes into a bowl, seasoned generously with kosher salt, and drizzled in a hefty amount of a delicious olive oil. I tasted it and adjusted until I couldn’t believe how flavorful it was, and that’s how simply the components of the dish come together. As a note, you can also just toast the bread to keep it even simpler. But! If you already have the grill going, throw the bread on it and thank me later.

Grab the recipe below, along with a few tips along the way.

A few notes:

• The Tomatoes: If you can’t find good heirlooms, use a pint or two of ripe cherry or sungold tomatoes. They’ll be too small to grate so you can pulse them a few times in a blender or food processor to get a similar texture. Once pulsed, transfer to bowl and follow remaining steps to make the sauce.

• The Olive Oil: Since this recipe relies on so few ingredients, each ingredient really makes a difference. This is the kind of recipe to use your favorite olive oil. I often reach for the Seka Hills Estate Arbequina Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

• The Sauce: Depending on the size of the tomatoes used, you may have extra raw tomato sauce - store any leftover sauce in an airtight jar in the fridge. Use it on a pasta salad, drizzle it into a vinaigrette, use it as a dipping sauce, or have Pan Con Tomate again tomorrow with the leftovers.

• A Really Good Wine Rec: If it’s Friday and you want a fun wine pairing, I’m recommending a *very* good wine today. I recently learned about Two Shepherds Wine from our local wine shop. Their 2022 Bucking Luna is a canned sparkling red wine, or their Sparkling Cinsault-Carignan to be exact. The somm at our wine shop described it as “crunchy” and I am into that. It’s dry, zippy, and so good with the smokiness of the grilled bread and the bright tomatoes. If you see it online or in a wine shop, get it! If you can’t find it before you make this recipe, which is likely, pick up something dry and sparkly in any variety you like.

Pan Con Tomate, My Way

Serves: 2 as a main, 4-6 as a side
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 5-10m
Total Time: ~25m

Ingredients:

For the bread:
6 thick slices rustic bread, such as country loaf or sourdough
3 tablespoons melted butter + 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large garlic clove

For the tomatoes:
4 very ripe heirloom tomatoes
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt to taste

For serving:
Handful fresh basil
Flaky salt

Instructions:

Grill the bread (or skip this step and just toast it)

1. Preheat grill or grill-pan to medium high.

2. In small bowl, combine melted butter and olive oil. Brush both sides of each slice of bread with butter and olive oil mixture.

3. Using tongs, arrange bread over grill grates or grill pan and let sit for 1-3 minutes, flipping once there are char marks. Repeat on other side and remove from heat when done.

Rub garlic on bread

1. Slice tip off top of garlic clove and while bread is still warm, rub sliced garlic clove on top side of each piece of bread.

Make the grated tomato sauce

1. On a box grater, grate tomatoes into large bowl, discarding skins. Stir in olive oil and season generously with kosher salt.

2. Taste and adjust, seasoning again with kosher salt if it needs an extra punch of flavor.

Finish + serve

1. Cut each slice of toast in half at an angle to create 6 smaller portions, or keep as is for 3 larger tartines, and arrange on serving platter.

2. Spoon few spoonfuls of tomato mixture over each slice. Depending on the size of the tomatoes used, you may have extra raw tomato sauce - store any leftover sauce in an airtight jar in the fridge.

3. Tear fresh basil and scatter over toasts, sprinkle all with flaky salt, and enjoy.

And there you have it! I know everyone is ready for fall but late Summer in California is a dream. It’s a season in its own right. The sun is more golden, there are so many tomatoes and eggplants and peppers and beautiful grape varieties. And soon we’ll start to see Fall produce and the temperatures will drop. When that time comes I’ll embrace it fully and there will be cozy recipes to follow. Stay tuned! xx