Words by Giorgia Goggi. Photo by Maureen Evans and Letizia Cigliutti.
This is definitely one of my absolute favourite things’ I could live on pane e pomodoro and never get tired of it. Over the years, we have explored this theme in different ways, overlapping, breaking down and discovering the many possibilities contained within these humble yet divine ingredients.
This is not the definitive version, just the one we enjoyed the most this past summer, served mostly for breakfast. The base is a soft and voluptuous pan brioche made with extra virgin olive oil. It was created by Luca, who responded positively to my request for something fluffy and light to use at breakfast, playing with local ingredients. After being toasted, the bread meets a generous layer of roasted tomato paste that not only provides a boost of natural umami, but also works as a glue for the fresh tomato slices that are placed on top, therefore avoiding that annoying but frequent experience of tomatoes falling ruinously apart just as you are about to bite into a bruschetta. This essential version celebrates just two key elements, but it can be enriched in the most diverse ways.
Variations on the theme: This tomato-and-bread base lends itself to myriad additions: fresh cheese, such as shredded mozzarella or indulgent burrata, anchovies, for an umami-on-umami overlay, fried or soft-boiled eggs, or a few slices of prosciutto crudo or capocollo.
Ready to bring the flavors of Puglia into your kitchen? Order Giorgia Goggi’s Moroseta Kitchen today and start exploring her beautiful, simple recipes that celebrate the best of seasonal ingredients.
Tomato Toast
Ingredients
- 6 slices Olive Oil Pan Brioche, about 2.5 cm (1 in) thick
- 300 g 10½ oz Roasted Tomato Paste (see below)
- 6 large tomatoes, preferably Costoluto or Cuore di Bue
- 1 garlic clove
- fresh herbs of your choice, to garnish
- extra virgin olive oil, salt flakes, freshly ground black pepper, to serve
- 2 kg (4 lb 8 oz) small mixed tomatoes
- sugar or honey, to taste (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160°C fan (320°F/gas 4) and line one or two baking trays with baking parchment.
- Wash all the tomatoes for the tomato paste, then cut them in half, trying to keep a fairly consistent size. Put them into a large bowl and season with olive oil, salt and pepper. The seasoning should not be too generous, as the tomatoes will dehydrate in the oven and lose most of their volume, thus concentrating all the flavours.
- Arrange on the prepared baking tray(s), ensuring they aren’t crowded too close together, and roast for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes, making sure each one is well caramelised and roasted.
- Once ready, remove from the oven and let them cool for at least half an hour, then finely chop. Tip the resulting tomato paste into a large container and mix well. Taste and adjust the seasoning if required.
- Increase the oven temperature to 220°C (430°F/gas 9).
- Place the bread slices on a wire rack and toast them in the oven for about 6 minutes, until both sides are golden brown and fragrant.
- Once ready, lightly rub one side of each slice of toasted bread with the garlic clove to gently infuse with its aroma. Spread a generous layer of tomato paste on each slice, about 50 g (2 oz) each.
- Slice the tomatoes into thick slices and arrange them on the toasted bread, overlapping slightly.
Olive Oil Pan Brioche
Ingredients
- 150 g 3½ oz water
- 500 g 1 lb 1 oz type 1 flour
- 150 g 3½ oz bread starter (divided into 50 g strong flour starter, 50 g San Francisco style wholemeal starter, 50 g rye starter)
- 150 g 3½ oz unsweetened almond milk
- 112 g 3 oz extra virgin olive oil
- 20 g 3/4 oz sugar
- 15 g 1/2 oz salt
Instructions
- Prepare an autolysis for 45 minutes with the water and the flour. Add the starter and knead at low speed for 4 minutes. Add one part almond milk with dissolved salt and sugar and knead for a further 7 minutes at medium speed.
- Add the remaining water and allow the dough to stick together. Add the olive oil 3 times, always working at medium speed, and knead the dough for a further 7 minutes until completely absorbed.
- Stop the dough and let it rest in its bowl for 10 minutes. Place the dough in a plastic box greased with some oil — do 2 cycles of stretch and fold every 30 minutes at room temperature, then leave to rest and ferment at 28⁰C (83⁰F) for 3 hours.
- Break the dough into 340 g (12 oz) balls and place in a loaf tin for a total weight of about 1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) — leave to rise slowly for 12 hours at 15⁰C (30⁰F).
- Preheat the oven to 175⁰C (350⁰F/gas 5), bake the pan brioche for 45 minutes. Check it is cooked through and immediately unmould as soon as it is ready.
- Cool for about 5 hours and serve.
Notes
Excerpted with permission from Moroseta Kitchen: Recipes and Stories from a Modern Puglian Farmhouse by: Giorgia Goggi published by Hardie Grant Books, September 2024.