A variation on a theme

After spending a wonderful and food filled 10 days in Spain, I find that I am drawn more than ever to small bites. Not that I needed that much in the way of encouragement, but the Spanish seem to have developed the final word on yumminess in small plates. So with that in mind, I give you my spin on Pan Tomate. Normally, Pan Tomate is a piece of toast rubbed with some tomato and topped with something. This is an upgraded riff on that-easy, involves no cooking unless you call toasting bread cooking, only a bit of hands on time (think less than 5 minutes) and can be used in a myriad of ways. Perfect for your next happy hour nibble. What you need are these items:

Notice, two of the 6 items are “utensils”. I had a beefsteak tomato that was sitting unused and decided to employ it for this appetizer. Also shown are salt, bread, and oil. I am using Spanish olive oil, use what you want or what you have. The bread is an olive loaf, again, use what you want or have. For you gluten free folks, substitute the olive bread with your gluten free fave. Grate the tomato on the largest holes of the box grater. It may smush if you have an overly ripe tomato, if that occurs, you can chop down the larger pieces, but by and large the tomato will grate easily and you will end up with this.

Pour your what is now tomato puree into a strainer placed over a bowl , salt lightly, and allow the tomato to drain. Like so.

The more liquid part of the puree will seep into the bowl below and you will be left with a spreadable product. Don’t worry about the seeds. In Spain, I saw seeds everywhere, even in a 2 Michelin Star restaurant surrounded by the gelatin which holds the seeds in place. They are delicious. A bit tangy.

Now the fun part. Take your bread, toast it slightly, and and then “butter it” with the tomato. I will show you two different iterations. The first was part of a tapas dinner on a Sunday night. The second was a breakfast toast with avocado.

In Madrid, they call this a matrimonio. A combination of white and grey anchovies for anchovy lovers. I love anchovies, but admit that there are haters out there. Maybe you should give them another go??

This is tamer. Both were delicious. Topped with a bit of salt and a drizzle of olive oil. Pepper if you want. Parsley or cilantro.

So what else can you use? Top with thinly sliced manchego. Top with tinned tuna or another tinned fish. Top with a slice of sweet onion. You can even top with a fried egg. You are only limited by your imagination!

Now what to do with the tomato water that filtered out. Martini lovers, I am looking at you! Add to some chilled Vodka, skewer a small piece of Mozzarella and a leaf of basil. Not your grandmother’s Caprese!

I hope you make this. Like I said it is so easy to prepare, inexpensive, and so many ways to enjoy!