By: chezchanelle
RECIPES, , ,

PAN CON TOMATE with BURRATA

Pan con Tomate is a traditional Spanish dish which in simpler terms is just Grilled Bread with Tomato Pulp. In Spain, instead of being served bread and butter when you sit down; they serve you Pan Con Tomate. It’s simple and satisfying and it’s become a staple in our house.

Pan Con Tomate with Burrata

It’s quite common to see this dish served with either shavings of a sharp white cheese or with a Spanish ham but I thought I would mix things up by topping it with some ooey-gooey burrata cheese (because, why not!?). You can easily skip a cheese or meat altogether because the tomato pulp on it’s own is delicious.

Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 4 ripe tomatoes* halved
  • Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
  • 2 garlic cloves, halved
  • Kosher Salt, to taste
  • 1 ball of Burrata
  • 1 demi loaf of French bread or Ciabatta
  • Flaky sea salt, to taste

When it comes to choosing your tomatoes, I have found beefsteak or similar varieties produce the most pulp whereas a roma tomato won’t give you as much pulp. Choosing your salt is also very important; you want to season your tomato pulp with kosher salt but also generously season the end dish with something a little stronger, such as fleur de sel or maldon salt.

Grate until all the flesh has been grated off and you are only left with the skin.

Preparation:

  1. Cut the tomatoes in half horizontally. Place a box grater over a large mesh sieve and rub the cut faces of the tomatoes over the large holes of the box grater, using the flattened palm of your hand to move the tomatoes up and down. The flesh should be grated off, while the skin remains intact in your hand.
  2. Discard the skin and allow your pulp to sit in the sieve to strain while you prepare the bread.
  3. Preheat your oven broiler to high heat. Slice bread into 1/2” pieces and drizzle with olive oil. Season with kosher salt. Place bread directly on the broiler rack and broil until crisp and starting to char around the edges, about 4-5 minutes.
  4. Remove bread from oven and rub with the split garlic cloves.
  5. Season the strained tomato pulp with kosher salt and then spread over bread. Drizzle with more olive oil, top with burrata and season generously with flaky sea salt. Serve immediately.