Challenge 32: Supper - Hobz biz-zejt

[norfolkian]

I grew up in the South of England and we didn't have supper. That doesn't mean we didn't have evening snacks sometimes, but we never called it supper. (And our evening meal was either dinner or tea (a large meal, e.g. a Sunday roast was definitely dinner, but a smaller meal, e.g. fish fingers and beans could be tea), but the midday meal was always lunch.)

In the interests of full disclosure I actually ate this for lunch, but this is a popular Maltese snack which can be eaten at any time of the day, including supper, so I am including it in this challenge. :)

Hobz biz-zejt literally translates as 'bread with oil', but this dish does have a little more to it.

Serves 1

Ingredients
1 or 2 thick slices of white bread (preferably a sourdough)
Tomato puree or paste or one very fresh in-season tomato (my tomato puree of choice at the moment is Sainsbury's Taste the Difference cherry tomato puree with basil)
Extra virgin olive oil

One or more of the following optional ingredients
Capers
Sliced olives
Tinned tuna flakes or anchovies
Fresh herbs (some basil leaves would work well)
Salt and pepper

Method
Spread the tomato puree/paste on the bread. If using a fresh tomato, cut the tomato in half and rub the tomato halves onto the bread while squeezing the juice out.

Pour some olive oil out onto a plate or into a shallow bowl - enough to lightly coat one side of the bread. Dip the bread, tomato side down into the olive oil.

Garnish with one or more of the optional ingredients. 

****

I bought a pre-sliced sourdough, but generally I'd prefer to have thicker slices than this. :)

Comments

[gatheringrivers]

One of the italian restaurants my late MIL used to take us to served bread with oil in a very simple fashion, one we recreate at home occasionally:

* Bread
* Olive oil
* Balsamic vinegar

Nothing spread on the bread, and the oil/vinegar is mixed on a plate upon which pieces of the bread are swiped through it.

Works with most plain white breads. Balsamic may clash with the odder ones that have strong flavors like "whole wheat", rye, etc.

[piyyah]

Hello! Perfect recipe. Just what i've been looking for. You see, my dad went groceries shopping and he bought six bottles of tomato puree (he loves them). I mean, i put them in my spaghetti but i'm not gonna make spaghetti all the time now, am i. So yes. Something easy and seems delicious (i'm imagining what the taste would be like) for me to follow! Thank you!

btw, we don't do supper but we do snacking. Lol