Its been a while now since I went to Barcelona. And starting next week I’m going to be telling you all about my trip to Paris. Before I do though, I am going to show you how to make the most ubiquitous of all Spanish tapas: Pan con Tomate (literally meaning bread with tomato, aka Spanish toast). It might surprise you that something so easy could be so flavourful and delicious. You’ve got to try this one.
After coming back from Barcelona, Hubby and I would keep reminiscing about the awesome food we ate at Taller de Tapas. We loved it so much that we would go back to Barcelona for that alone!!! Though every tapas bar has Pan con Tomate on the menu, theirs was definitely the best. While my version doesn’t exactly look like theirs (if you want it to look like the Taller de Tapas version, use a French baguette), I feel that it is comparable. It is now one of our staples at Chez Housewife. We have eaten it both as a breakfast and as snack (beware the garlic if you are having this for breakfast though, it will definitely give you stinky breath).
Because you will be using so few ingredients, the key to making this dish truly great is by choosing the best quality ingredients: great bread, very ripe and flavourful tomatoes, and the best quality olive oil.
Here is what you will need (serves 2):
1 or 2 (depending on size) ripe and flavourful red tomatoes
2 teaspoons of olive oil
1 clove of garlic (optional)
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
4 slices of sourdough bread
Directions:
Toast or grill the bread. I like to grill it, because I like to get those nice grill lines on the bread 
, it just looks good. If you are using garlic, cut the garlic clove in half and rub it into the bread. Do the same with the tomato. The tomato flavour needs to really get into the bread. This is done by practically “grating” the tomato into the surface. The bread should turn a pinkish-red colour. Now sprinkle on your olive oil, salt and pepper. Easy and fabulous!
, it just looks good. If you are using garlic, cut the garlic clove in half and rub it into the bread. Do the same with the tomato. The tomato flavour needs to really get into the bread. This is done by practically “grating” the tomato into the surface. The bread should turn a pinkish-red colour. Now sprinkle on your olive oil, salt and pepper. Easy and fabulous!P.S. For those of you wanting an update on the whole hamster drama, I have some news. Reeni from Cinnamon & Spice may have spotted Heavenly Hamster. If this is true, there could be an issue as my hamster eats the finest food and must look quite tasty to Moon the Kitchen Cat, who is quite familiar with all things culinary. I am going to send a flying monkey over there to investigate and perhaps plan a rescue mission. This may be my beloved hamster, or this may be Laurel’s hamster, from Happy Simple Life as she is missing hers too. There is also rumour that my hamster may be sipping tea and munching on macaroons at the Champs Elysee Laduree. As this sounds quite likely, I’m going to investigate that one myself 
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