Putting a mouth-watering combination of things on top of bread, drizzled with olive oil and grilled golden brown, is as easy as it is delicious. On each of our grilled “rafts” we give you two or three ingredients that are terrific together as apps, or you can put out a platter of several types as a tapas-style meal. Contributors include our Food Schmooze team, along with Giada DeLaurentis and Ted Allen of The Food Network.
Instructions
Faith
- Top the grilled bread with crumbled feta, chopped Kalamata olives, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
- Spread the grilled bread slices with a little mayonnaise, diced cherry tomatoes, and crisp, crumbled bacon.
- In a bowl mix together chopped cooked shrimp, a little mayonnaise and yogurt, and curry powder to taste. Put some on each grilled slice.
- Spread the grilled bread with a little garlic chili sauce from the Asian section of the supermarket, add diced cooked chicken and chopped scallions.
- For dessert, top each slice of bread with semisweet chocolate chips and a sprinkling of unsweetened coconut. As soon as the chocolate gets soft, serve.
Giada DeLaurentis, The Food Network magazine:
- Cover the grilled bread with Gorgonzola cheese and toasted walnuts. When it has melted, drizzle with local honey and serve.
Lori Mack
- Sauté tomatoes in olive oil.
- Top the grilled bread with sautéed tomatoes, a little sea salt, and Parmesan cheese.
Ted Allen, The Food Network magazine
- Rub each slice with garlic clove before grilling. When it is grilled, place a tablespoon or two of ricotta cheese on each slice of bread, top each one with a leaf of arugula, and top again with a very thin slice of prosciutto. Close the lid for a minute to warm it up.
Chris Prosperi
- Parmesan Aioli: Take 0.5 cup of prepared mayonnaise, 0.5 cup of grated Parmesan cheese and 6 cloves of chopped garlic, place in a bowl and mix well.
- Spread on toasted bread and place under broiler until browned and bubbly.
My mom, Carmen, who is from Seville Spain, would toast a nice thick slab of country bread, then rub a clove of garlic onto the toast. Next she would pour a generous amount of rich, deep green extra virgin olive oil all over the toast, and use her thumb to press the oil into all the nooks and crannies of the bread. She’d finish the toast with a sprinkling of coarse- grained sea salt. Growing up, we would dip the toast into a cup of hot chocolate (or, once older, a big bowl of café con leche) to complete breakfast before running to catch the bus.
Here are a few variations:
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My mom, Carmen, who is from Seville Spain, would toast a nice thick slab of country bread, then rub a clove of garlic onto the toast. Next she would pour a generous amount of rich, deep green extra virgin olive oil all over the toast, and use her thumb to press the oil into all the nooks and crannies of the bread. She’d finish the toast with a sprinkling of coarse- grained sea salt. Growing up, we would dip the toast into a cup of hot chocolate (or, once older, a big bowl of café con leche) to complete breakfast before running to catch the bus.
Here are a few variations:
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Instructions
Pan con Tomate
- After toasting the bread and rubbing it with garlic and drizzling with extra virgin olive oil, take a tomato cut in half (along the equator of the tomato) and rub the toast until only the skin of the tomato remains. Finish with a sprinkling of coarse-grained sea salt.
Pan con Tomate y Jamon
- Lay a thin slice of Jamon Serrano onto the Pan con Tomate. Prosciutto works well too.
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds roasted peppers
- .5 cups walnuts ground
- 3 tablespoons bread crumbs
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 4 teaspoons pomegranate molasses
- .25 teaspoons red chili paste
- .25 teaspoons cumin
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Servings:
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in bowl of food processor and puree into paste
- Serve with toasted pita
Pita Triangles
- Split pita bread in half.
- Cut each half into triangles and arrange on a baking sheet.
- Drizzle or spray a little oil on the triangles and bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until the pita sections begin to crisp and turn golden brown.
Recipe Notes
You can, of course, gussy up these triangles in different ways while they bake. Sprinkle on some toasted cumin or curry powder, use a flavored oil or spoon on some minced roasted garlic, top with a pinch of fresh herbs.
