Pan con Tomate (Bread with tomato)

I love this easy little appetizer - it is so basic and so tasty. There are several variations that I have seen on American cooking shows, but I really have to stick with the basic form I learned in Spain. And I should clarify - Northern Spain - Catalonia - other places in Spain don't really do this. Boy, are they missing out.



Ingredients:

A baguette
Several Roma Tomatoes
Olive Oil
Salt

Method:


You start with a sliced baguette - the better the bread, the better this will be. A little on the crusty side is my preference.

You take a Roma tomato, cut it in half lengthwise and the spread the tomato inner parts (juice, seeds, whatever) over the surface of the bread. Really, just squish it in.

Then get some great, fruity olive oil and drizzle a little on top of one, grab another and rub the two tomato drenched faces together. When all the pieces of bread have the olive oil, then just a bit of salt and you are set. This is really the best way to eat bread I have ever come across. It is so good with any classic spanish dish - it's not too heavy and a healthy alternative to garlic bread.



Other form I have seen toast the bread first. And then they add little things like a great European cheese or some olive paste and even rub fresh garlic on the slice (which is great, too). They really are all good, but the plain old original is divine!