Spanish Tomato Bread – Pan con tomate is probably the simplest recipe I have posted. Actually, I will qualify that Pan con tomate or Pa amb tomàquet is one of the simplest most tasty recipes full stop. Every time I visit Guernsey, I pop into one of my favourite island restaurants and always start with a chilled Fino sherry, tomato bread and some Jamón Ibérico. A staple of tapas bars the dish comes from Catalonia and consists of bread, Spanish olive oil, garlic, ripe tomatoes, and salt and that’s it. This dish relies on the quality of the ingredients, especially the tomatoes. If you can use a full flavoured heritage variety like San Mazarno.

A little bit of Spanish Tomato Bread History

Tomato bread is almost a religion in Catalonia, it even has a whole book devoted to it called Teoria i práctica del pa amb tomàquet or the Theory and Practise of Tomato Bread! If you are in a restaurant, it is almost automatically assumed that you will order some. Néstor Luján a Spanish journalist and author wrote that the origins of tomato bread dated back to 1884. The story is that that year there was a glut of tomatoes following a massive harvest. Farmers used some of the excess tomatoes to soften stale bread and the tomato bread was born.

If you like this dish why not try one of my other Spanish recipes like chilled Gazpacho soup, Gambas al Ajillo – Spanish garlic prawns or a delicious Paella de Marisco.

Tomato Bread Ingredients

As you would expect you need bread, a rustic dense texture is helpful so you can rub on a piece of raw garlic. Some recipes call for it to be toasted, you can do this on a char-grill to add some extra flavour, but I pan-fry some sliced ciabatta in my recipe. Use the best quality olive oil you can afford as this will add lots of extra Mediterranean flavour and some flaked sea salt. I also like to add a little freshly ground black pepper but that is a personal choice.

The most important ingredient is the ripe, sweet tomatoes at room temperature. This allows the full flavour to show itself a lot better than straight from the fridge. The final thing you will need is an old-fashioned box grater to pulp the tomatoes and separate the flesh from the skin. Have a look around at your local greengrocers or farm shop or better still grow your own for the best flavour.

Food and Drink Pairing

My first choice is a crisp chilled glass of Manzanilla sherry. The nutty, briny elements the perfect foil to the sweet tomato and herbaceous olive oil. A glass of Cava would pair toasted bread flavours and acidity with the tomato bread. My final suggestion would be a Rioja Crianza the balanced tannins cutting through the rich olive oil.

More of my food and drink pairings

My Spanish Tomato Bread

You can serve tomato bread with Spanish sausages, anchovies, cheese or Jamón Ibérico. In Catalonia they also use the tomato pulp in sandwiches called Entrepà when instead of spreading mayonnaise on the bread they use grated tomato, olive oil and fillings such as ham, cheese, sausage, or egg.