Garlic tomato toasts
Crisp little toasts rubbed with garlic and topped with juicy grated tomato, olive oil and salt, the Spanish bar snack that needs five things.
- 15 min total
- 10 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $0.97 a serving
- 300 calories
- Vegan
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: It’s ready in 15 minutes, start to finish.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 12 slices French bread, baguette, sliced ½ inch thick
- 2 tomatoes, ripe
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and halved
- 4 sprigs fresh basil (optional)
From your pantry
- 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
- ½ tsp salt
Each serving has about 300 calories, 9 g protein, 41 g carbs and 12 g fat, and costs about $0.97 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No French bread? Sourdough bread works.
- No tomatoes? Roma tomatoes work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 425°F.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Lay the bread slices on a and the tops with 1 tablespoon of the oil.
Sheet pan. A sheet pan is a flat metal baking tray with a low rim all the way around. The rim catches juices, and the wide surface lets food spread out and brown.
How you’ll know: Everything fits in one layer with a little space between the pieces.
Drizzle. Drizzling means pouring a thin, slow stream over the top of something. A thin stream spreads a little flavor a long way.
How you’ll know: You see thin lines across the food, not a puddle collecting underneath.
6 to 8 minutes, until and at the edges.
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Timer: 7 min
Meanwhile, the tomatoes and the cut sides on the large holes of a box grater into a bowl, until only the skin is left in your hand.
Halve. Halving means cutting something into two equal pieces. Even halves cook at the same speed, so one doesn’t dry out while the other finishes.
How you’ll know: The two pieces look like mirror images of each other.
Grate. Grating means rubbing food across the holes of a grater to make fine shreds or flakes. It spreads cheese, garlic or ginger evenly through a dish so it melts right in.
How you’ll know: Even shreds fall off the back of the grater, and you stop while the piece is still big enough to hold.
Dolly’s tip: Grating gives you fresh tomato pulp with no chopping. Throw away the skins.the salt and the rest of the oil into the tomato.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Rub the cut side of the garlic over each warm toast two or three times.
Dolly’s tip: The rough toast works like a grater, so a few swipes is plenty.Spoon the tomato over the toasts, tear the basil on top, and eat them right away.
Dolly’s tip: Top them just before eating, or the bread goes soggy.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop plans snacks along with the week’s dinners, puts what you need on the same grocery list, and walks you through each step.
