If you've ever visited Spain or even dined at a rustic Spanish restaurant, you know the joys of pan tomate.
A slice of grilled bread is first rubbed liberally with a garlic clove, then a cut-half of a perfectly ripe tomato, before being drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt. The bread soaks up all that lovely tomato pulp to create something all together simple yet glorious.
Few things can improve upon such a classic. But juicy shrimp sure can. Especially if it's seasoned with Piment d'Espelette, a Basque dried pepper that boasts a fruity, smoky flavor with restrained heat. And particularly if that shrimp is cooked sous vide, with a gentle heat that imparts an almost lobster-like lusciousness to the texture of the shellfish.
Piment d'Espelette is available at Spanish or gourmet markets. Use the best summer tomatoes available; they are key to this dish.
Then, sit back and indulge in a taste of Spain in your own home.
Some of the ingredients you'll need.
Shrimp gently cooking away.
Pan Tomate with Sous Vide Espelette Shrimp
(Serves 4 as a first course or 2 as a main course)
Ingredients:
- 1 pound shrimp (15-16 count), peeled and deveined
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus more for garnishing
- 3/4 teaspoon Piment d'Espelette
- Pinch of kosher salt
- 1/2 of a round loaf of artisan bread, cut into 1/2-inch slices
- 1 garlic clove
- 1-2 ripe beefsteak tomatoes
- Sea salt
Directions:
Set the Anova to 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in a large pot of water.
In a bowl, mix shrimp with olive oil, Piment d'Espelette, and a pinch of salt. Pour contents into a plastic bag, then vacuum seal it.
Once the pot of water has reached the required temperature, drop in the bag of shrimp. Set the Anova for a cooking time of 25 minutes.
Just before you are ready to serve, heat a grill pan on the stovetop on medium-high heat. Place bread slices in one layer on the pan, allowing each to crisp before flipping over to toast the other side. Remove bread from the pan. Cut the clove of garlic in half and rub it over one side of each slice of bread.
Remove the bag of shrimp from the pot of water. On medium-high heat, add shrimp in one layer to the grill pan, searing quickly on each side for just a few seconds. Remove to a plate.
Meantime, cut a tomato in half horizontally. Using one half at a time, rub it generously over each garlic-seasoned side of bread so that the pulp soaks into it. Once you've extracted the juice from that tomato half, use the second one on the rest of the remaining slices of bread.
Divide the shrimp among the slices of bread. Drizzle on some extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Serve immediately.
