With Summer tomatoes flooding the markets, there's no better time to serve up dishes that bring this divine fruit to the forefront. Bar Besito's take on the quintessential Spanish tapa, Pan con Tomate, is the perfect answer to the call of a ripe, juicy tomato. Deceptively simple, its deliciousness comes from the marrying of just a few high quality ingredients: good bread, good tomatoes, good olive oil and good garlic (and salt, of course!).

We reached out to our friend, Heather Sperling, owner of the beloved new Silver Lake tapas bar, Bar Besito, for their recipe for this perfect plate of food. Heather says, "While we serve Pan Con Tomate year-round at Bar Besito (thanks to one local farmer, Beylik, who grows very tasty Momotaro tomatoes throughout the temperate California winter), we are now entering the finest season for tomato-topped toast—where the flavors really sing, and all you need are some good anchovies, a green salad, and a glass of wine to make a perfect summer meal.

We diverge from the classic Spanish form in two ways: we season our tomato in advance, and we dry the skins to make tomato salt to sprinkle on top, as a final layer of flavor. The last step is far from requisite, but is certainly a delicious no-waste option (and I like to snack on the dried skins like they’re fruit leather later)."

Bar Besito Pan con Tomate 

Ingredients: 

• 2 medium garlic cloves
• Sea salt, to taste
• 1-2 large, ripe tomatoes (whatever variety is best at the moment), enough to yield 1/2  cup when grated
• Olive oil
• 2-4 slices of delicious sourdough bread

Instructions:

1. Use a mortar and pestle to pulverize garlic cloves with a hearty pinch of sea salt. Using a box grater, grate the tomatoes directly into the mortar, reserving the leftover skins. Add a small glug (a teaspoon or so) of olive oil, stir, and taste; add salt as needed. 

2. Lay the leftover skins on a dehydrator rack and dehydrate until crisp. Alternatively, you can lay them on a metal mesh rack over a sheet tray and leave in a low oven (200F) until completely dry. Let cool, then pulse in a food processor or spice grinder with salt until you have a medium-fine compound salt. 

3. Toast or grill your bread. Drizzle it with olive oil, spoon the grated tomato mixture over top, finish with another drizzle of olive oil and, finally, a good sprinkle of tomato salt."

Alice's Mortar & Pestle is a perfect tool for pounding the garlic and making the pulped tomato mixture!