8.26.10 Catalan Tomato Bread
My windowsill has been working hard this summer. It has the prestigious duty of housing pots of herbs, being a catchall for sunglasses or keys and most recently, keeping my precious tomatoes off the countertop. Last week, it worked overtime when we got fourteen pounds (yes, fourteen) of tomatoes from my CSA. And just when the sill thought it caught a break, this week’s bunch came. Right this minute there are fifteen tomatoes stacked neatly, ripening with time. After last year’s crop blight, I couldn’t be happier about tomato-palooza. In fact, even with pounds and pounds showing up weekly I am not at a loss of ideas. There is homemade sauce, jam, panzanella, tarts and this tasty treat straight from Barcelona—Catalan Tomato Bread. A lazy brushetta, it couldn’t be simpler…or more adaptable. Here, I topped it with a fried egg, salt, pepper, a little olive oil, oregano and grated parmesan. But it is perfect as an appetizer or torn into rustic croutons for salad and soup. See? Show me a tomato, and I’ll show you dinner.
Catalan Tomato Bread
makes 8 slices
1 loaf Ciabatta (or other hearty bread), cut into eight 1/2" slices
2 large garlic cloves, peeled
2 large tomatoes, cut in half
olive oil, salt and pepper, to taste
Preheat broiler to high. Arrange slices on a baking sheet and transfer to oven. Broil 2-3 minutes, on each side, until bread is well toasted and crunchy. Remove from oven and immediately rub garlic on the bread, using about a 1/4 clove for each slice. Then rub with cut side of a tomato, using 1 half for 2 slices of bread. Allow the tomato pulp to be absorbed into the bread and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Reader Comments (14)
Clearly I am a member of the wrong CSA! ;)
I LOVE this Catalan Tomato Bread!! This is such a wonderfu recipe to make over this big weekend for me! Have a lovely merry happy weekend and love to you!
Wow, Erin. You've done it once again. I gotta go get me some 'maters' and make this!
I've made banana bread, pumpkin bread and zucchini bread, but never tomato bread! This sounds and looks delicious. What a great way to use up an abundance of tomatoes (in addition to an endless supply of sauce).
I'm super jealous of everyone's CSA tomatoes this week! My friend got a boatload. Delicious. Enjoy!
Oh my goodness. I'm afraid if I make this I might never stop eating it. :) DELICIOUS!!
Erin, we have been LOVING our tomaters from our CSA! Yesterday I ate one whole like an apple with a little olive oil and salt...yummy! I hope this weeks box is full of them!
Hey there,
Just got directed to your website through some other and so wanted to just drop a line to tell you how much I loved it. You've created such a neat and well put together space here. So looking forward to learning something from you. Following you on twitter!
I love your closing line here! And this looks delicious!
Lucky lady! Our cool summer has made the usually not too great tomatoes really pretty sad. I would eat this in the middle of winter with a yucky tomato though because it looks so good.
So simple, soooo good...*sigh*... The very best things in life usual are though, aren't they--and we should celebrate that! This is lovely, Erin... I miss really good tomatoes, just not the climate for them here, so we've stopped growing them ourselves. But I sit them on the kitchen counter a few days, the ones from the market, and they're not too bad... I need bread now! haha.. :o) Happy Days ((HUGS))
Yummm good tomatoes and good bread!
My Spanish friend makes this for breakfast every day (sans egg). My stomach is literally grumbling looking at your photos Erin!
Oh, golly. I've been meaning to try this forever. Nudge, nudge...