Hear ye, hear ye! I hereby call the Society of Disney Carb Lovers into session. I also call into session the Lovers of Fresh Garlic Club. And yes, you can definitely be a member of both groups. I encourage it, in fact.
Some of the best snacks are made from the magical combination of just a few fresh ingredients. Friends, today’s Saturday Snacks recipe is just that. And the taste? HOLY COW. Dear Pan Con Tomate, you are sheer perfection.
First things first: if you have a chance to head up to the 16th floor of Coronado Springs’ Gran Destino Tower to eat dinner at Toledo, take it. It’s one of my favorite Disney restaurants, and I just can’t say enough good things about the food, the space itself, the view, and the service. It’s the perfect storm, I tell ya.
I had a chance to try today’s snack at Toledo in January 2020 as part of a resort showcase hosted by Disney. The photo above is one that I snapped that evening, and even though the focus isn’t great in the pic, you can readily see the Pan Con Tomate’s bright, fresh topping. You can see the tomato seeds, the flakes of freshly ground black pepper, and the lovely bits of garlic woven in. The Pan Con Tomate is simple…and simply amazing.
My first step in re-creating the Pan Con Tomate in the comfort of my own home had me heading to Delicious Disney Walt Disney World: Stories and Recipes from the Most Magical Place on Earth and then heading to my grocery store to purchase 3 large ripe tomatoes, a bulb of garlic, and an unsliced loaf of sourdough bread. I also decided to pick up a small shaker of fine sea salt. While the recipe calls for coarse sea salt, the coarse salt that I had on hand tends to be too coarse, and I felt that a finer take on it might be nicer for the Pan Con Tomate. I also picked up a new bottle of olive oil. We’re asked to use a good olive oil for the recipe, and while I’m not one to ever purchase pricey olive oil, I decided to get one step better than the store brand that I usually get.
While I try to stick to constructing the Saturday Snacks recipes the way they’re written, after reading through the recipe step-by-step, decided to flip the order of the steps. It just made sense, and now that I sit here on the other side of things, I can say that I made the right call. Instead of starting by prepping the bread and popping it in the oven, we’re going to slice the bread into 1-inch slices and then sit it aside. The recipe wants us to brush both sides of the slices with olive oil and pop them into a 400-degree oven at this point, but we’re supposed to put the finished topping onto warm slices of bread and the bread only needs 6 minutes (according to the recipe) in the oven. That’s not enough time to construct the fresh tomato topping. Slow your roll, recipe. We’re the boss.
After I had cut the bread into 1-inch slices, which, by the way is slightly thicker than what the bread is at Toledo, I pulled my largest mixing bowl out of the cabinet. We’re asked to use a box grater and large mixing bowl for the next step, and while I’ve got the bowl, I’m short one box grater. If we can get away without having to purchase a new kitchen doodad, we’re gonna go for it.
The next step calls for us to grate the three ripe tomatoes. Yep, you read that right: grate the tomatoes. Hmm. Seeds, pulp, skin; everything. Okayyyy. I washed the tomatoes and one at a time, began to grate them on the larger teeth of my grater. And, for the most part, those ripe tomatoes grated. Amazing. What started accumulating in the bottom of the bowl looked like the topping on the restaurant’s version of the snack, so my hopes were very high. There were larger chunks that broke off of the tomatoes along the way, and I just mashed them against the grater with the bottom of a measuring cup. Friends, the grating three whole tomatoes thing actually worked. I was just a tad shocked.
My next step was to grate two cloves of fresh garlic on the smaller teeth of the grater. I grated the garlic right into the tomatoes. And the glorious smell of garlic filled the air. Bless it.
Next, sprinkle in 2 teaspoons of that lovely sea salt, along with 1/2 of a teaspoon of ground pepper. Give everything a good stir and whisper sweet nothings to the contents of that bowl. This is your new BFF.
With the topping ready to go and getting even happier sitting in my big mixing bowl, I turned my attention back to the slices of fresh sourdough. The recipe asks that we take the remaining one tablespoon of olive oil and brush both sides of the bread slices with it. I needed close to twice that amount to get everything covered, but when I had the job done, I placed the baking sheet into a 400-degree oven.
I turned the slices over after 3 minutes as instructed. After another 3 minutes, the bread hadn’t quite reached the “golden brown” stage, so I gave it a few additional minutes in the oven.
When things were nice and toasty, I pulled the sheet out of the oven and proceeded to cover the tops with that incredible tomato mixture. And now’s not the time to skimp, friends; load those slices up all the way to the edges. We need all of the good things we can get right about now.
If only this was smell-o-vision. The Pan Con Tomate is as good as it looks. The bright, fresh tomatoes sing, and that lovely freshly-grated garlic? GOODNESS.
I loved every bite. And I ate a slice and a half immediately. As the slices sit, the sourdough bread soaks up the now flavored olive oil, making eating the snack even yummier, in my opinion. The crunch of the toasted bread pairs beautifully with the tomatoes. Please, for the love of all things snacks, make this. And savor every bite.
Whatever you’ve got on your slate this weekend, I hope that your next two days are filled with good things, and, of course, something yummy. Thank you so very much for reading. I am beyond grateful for you.
Ready to try your hand at Toledo’s Pan Con Tomate? You’ve got this! The recipe is below:
With a menu inspired by the classic dishes of Spain, Toledo-Tapas, Steak & Seafood features tapas like this Pan Con Tomate, a humble dish with just six ingredients that showcases the intense flavor of ripe tomatoes. Use your best olive oil and a crunchy sea salt to make the dish really sing.
- 1 (1-pound) loaf sourdough bread
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 3 large ripe tomatoes
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 teaspoons coarse salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Slice sourdough into 1-inch pieces. Brush both sides with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and place on baking sheet. Bake for 3 minutes, turn, and bake an additional 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown.
- Using the large teeth of a box grater, grate tomatoes into a large mixing bowl.
- Grate garlic cloves over tomatoes using the small teeth of the grater.
- Add salt, pepper, and remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and stir to combine.
- Spoon tomato mixture onto warm bread.