Okay. It’s finally HOT here in Los Angeles.
HOT hot. Like Africa Hot.
Which is great for the tomatoes … Those are finally coming in nicely. But it’s not so great for doing anything else.
As a rule, my kids don’t eat tomatoes. Sure, they love pizza and pasta with marinara and vegetable soup made with tomatoes. But raw tomatoes… Not so much.
Sabrina calls tomatoes “potatoes”. It’s endearing … and not a good indication of her willingness to try the fruit/vegetable.
Oh but I tricked them the other night. Oh I don’t like that statement. I don’t like tricking my kids about what they are eating. Hell, we even talk about cow body parts at the dinner table … I’m definitely not “hiding” food via purées and sneaking spinach in brownies. What’s with that?!
Okay, back to the raw tomatoes that I got my kids to eat…
They were smashed onto hot, garlicky toast.
I learned how to do this is Spain. It’s a typical appetizer. For the life of my I can’t remember what it’s called. (If anyone knows the name, I would love to know.). You make a crostini, rub raw garlic on it when it comes out of the oven and then rub the inside of a tomato onto the whole thing.
Amazing!
Sure, it’s mostly bread. But there is some yummy tomato on top. And the girls ate it! (so quickly in fact that I couldn’t get a good picture.)
Here’s a warning though… This is best when tomatoes are in peak season. It’s also HIGHLY addicting.
{deena}
Ingredients
- 12 slices of crusty bread (baguette or rustic bread work best)
- Olive oil
- 3-4 whole cloves of garlic, peeled
- 1 tomato, sliced in half
- Sea Salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Brush olive oil on each slice of toast and bake until golden brown - about 6-8 minutes.
- Meanwhile, peel the garlic (you want a few whole cloves for this) and prep the tomato by cutting it in half and squeezing out any juice (you can use this later for a tomato vinaigrette).
- As soon as the toast comes out of the oven, rub some of the garlic onto it and then rub some of the tomato. The nooks and crannies in the bread help grab onto just the right amount of garlic and tomato.
- Sprinkle with sea salt.
- Enjoy!
Sure, I may be obsessed with food, but I'm so much more than that. I'm a cook, a mom, a hostess and a list maker.
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I never heard of tomato toast, but I like the process and it looks delicious. I know two little boys that call tomatoes potatoes also. Must be a thing.
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