Simple Garlic and Tomato Toast (Spanish Pan Con Tomate)
Simple and delicious garlic and tomato toast recipe for an easy weekday lunch or a starter for a party. It consists of just 5 ingredients — bread, garlic, tomato, olive oil, and salt — and requires no cooking except for toasting bread!
Cut the medium tomato in half crosswise. Using a hand grater, grate the tomato flesh from the cut side of half the tomato. Discard the skin and keep the purée aside.*
Slice the remaining half. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and keep aside.
Smash, peel and cut the garlic clove into half.
Toast the bread nicely until crisp and brown. Cut into half for easy eating. Rub one half of garlic clove on each piece. Use less if you want less garlicky flavor.
Spread the tomato purée on top of each slice and then top with tomato slices and cherry tomato halves.
Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a nice drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Add some torn or whole basil leaves.
Serve immediately as a starter or pair with some fresh salad greens for a light lunch.
Notes
*Instead of making a purée, you can also rub the toasted bread with the cut side of tomato (just like garlic).
To make it as a starter, cut the bread into bite sizes so that it is easy to just pick and eat each in a bite.
You might also like the Italian Pappa al Pomodoro Salad where the toasted bread is soaked in a tomato, garlic, and basil leaves purée and then caramelized and served with tomato salad.
Nutritional Information is approximate information for 1 serving