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Pan con Tomate with Espelette Pepper

This iconic Catalan tapas dish of garlic rubbed toasted bread and fresh ripe juicy tomatoes is made even better with a sprinkling of Espelette pepper. Add some sliced dry cured ham like Serrano, olives, and Manchego cheese, and you have the makings of a delicious evening with friends!
Course Appetizer
Cuisine Spanish
Keyword ciabatta, garlic, olive oil, tomato
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 1 long ciabatta loaf or baguette
  • good olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1/2-1 tsp Espelette pepper
  • 2 ripe juicy tomatoes, Roma tomatoes give you the highest flesh to water ratio
  • sea salt
  • 4 oz sliced dry cured ham, like Serrano or IbĂ©rico, optional

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 425F
  2. Slice the loaf in half lengthwise to open fully up. Brush each interior side with olive oil. Place on a baking sheet and place in the centre of the oven. Bake until crisped and golden, about 10 minutes or so.
  3. Meanwhile, slice the garlic clove in half to open it up.
  4. Once cooled enough to handle, rub a garlic clove all over the interior of the toasted loaf.
  5. Sprinkle with Espelette pepper, to taste.
  6. Slice one or two tomatoes in half (depending on how large your tomatoes are, and how large the loaf you are using is)

  7. Hold the tomato firmly and rub it all over the bread as you did with the garlic. As you cover the bread, squeeze the tomato gently to release the juices and some of the pulp. But don't drown the bread, or it will go soggy.

  8. *Alternatively, grate the tomatoes against the large holes of a box grater over a large sieve. This will allow the excess water to drain away. Place the grated flesh into a small bowl and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Use a spoon to spread onto the grilled and garlic rubbed bread slices.

  9. Slice the loaves into bite sized pieces. Drizzle with a bit more olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.
  10. Serve with ham if desired.
  11. This can be part of a tapas spread, or served with a salad, or to accompany gazpacho or paella.
  12. See blog post for more suggestions

  13. Serve immediately or bread will go soggy.

Recipe Notes

Depending on how large your loaf is, you can feed more people.  

Serve with Manchego cheese, Marcona almonds, olives, figs etc.

Dry Rioja wine, a fresh Sangria, even a sparkling Cava are all great with this spread.