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“Bread with tomato” is as simple as it sounds, a humble Catalonian staple that can be served as a light lunch (maybe topped with anchovies or a slice of jamón), as a summer dinner side or, if you want to break from tradition, topped with a fried egg for breakfast.

Our version pulls in a cast iron skillet for toasting the bread, which is a step that you should pay special attention to: Heat a generous amount of olive oil in the skillet and get it pretty hot before adding the bread. Then treat it like a steak: You want to get the top of the bread crispy and well browned, but leave the interior soft and tender.

The most traditional pan con tomate recipes would have you simply rub the cut side of a tomato over the bread. We like a little more tomate on our pan, however, so we coarsely grate the tomatoes and flavor them with the sharp heat of raw garlic and a splash of sherry vinegar.

recipe

Cast Iron Pan con Tomate

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

2 large ripe tomatoes, halved crosswise
2 large garlic cloves
Kosher salt
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
Sherry vinegar
1 baguette or other long, crusty loaf, halved lengthwise, then halved crosswise
Flaky sea salt

Instructions

1.

Using the large holes of a box grate, coarsely grate the tomato flesh into a bowl, discarding the leftover skin. Finely grate one of the garlic cloves into the tomato mixture and stir in 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season to taste with salt and sherry vinegar.

2.

In a large cast iron skillet, heat the remaining olive oil over medium heat until it shimmers. Working in batches, add the bread, cut side down, and cook until golden brown and crisp on the bottom (but still soft in the middle), 2 to 3 minutes.

3.

3. Transfer the bread to a platter. Cut the remaining garlic clove in half and rub the garlic all over the warm bread. Spoon the tomato mixture over the top (if your tomatoes are extra juicy, you can lift some of the pulp out with a fork or strainer to leave some of the liquid behind). Drizzle more olive oil on top, season with flaky salt, and serve.

Cast Iron Cookware that Makes Clean-up Easy


The key to reliable, use-it-every-day cast iron is seasoning: a smooth, well-seasoned skillet will clean up with just a quick wash, and produce natural non-stick performance every time. Apply a dab of Field Seasoning Oil after cleaning to protect your skillet and build durable non-stick seasoning.

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