Pa amb Oli amb Sobrassada
Recipes with Sobrassada de Mallorca
Pa amb oli is the Mallorcan foundation: coarse bread, a ripe tomato rubbed into it, olive oil, salt. Sobrassada goes on top and turns it into a full snack or a light meal. This is the most common way Mallorcans eat their cured sausage at home. The tomato provides acidity, the oil carries the flavour, and the sobrassada provides fat and paprika. Nothing is measured. Everything is adjusted at the table.
Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
5 min
Servings
2
Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients
- 4 thick slices coarse country bread (day-old is better)
- 2 very ripe tomatoes, halved
- 4 tablespoons good olive oil
- Flaky sea salt
- 120 g sobrassada, casing removed
- Olives or pickled capers for serving (optional)
Steps
Toast the bread on a griddle pan or in a toaster until the surface has grill marks or is lightly browned. The bread should be warm and have some structure, not soft. Alternatively, leave it plain if the bread is fresh-baked and dense enough.
Take a tomato half and rub the cut face vigorously across the surface of the warm bread. Press hard. The flesh and juice should saturate the surface of the bread, leaving the skin behind in your hand. Use a whole half for each slice.
Drizzle olive oil over the tomato-rubbed surface. Season with flaky salt.
Spread sobrassada onto the prepared bread. The layer should be visible and generous, about 5 mm thick. The tomato and oil beneath will show through at the edges.
Serve immediately with olives or capers on the side if using. A glass of local Mallorcan red or a cold beer belongs alongside.
Tips
The tomato must be fully ripe and soft enough to rub into the bread rather than slide over it. Underripe tomatoes produce a wet surface without flavour. In Mallorca, the tomato variety used is called tomàtiga de ramellet, a small hanging tomato that dries slightly and concentrates in flavour. Outside Mallorca, the closest substitute is a vine-ripened tomato left at room temperature for a day or two until very soft.