Whether savory or sweet, tartine toasts are very popular. Easy and fast, these toasts or open-faced sandwiches appeal to everyone thanks to their infinite variations. As a result, in winter, you can prepare Tartiflette style with bacon, onions, and reblochon melted in the oven, in summer you can be dressed with candied tomatoes, fresh goat cheese, basil, and a drizzle of olive oil, the Summer’s Tartine crunch, crackles and brightens up all the summer gourmet breaks.
Why do you call it a slice of bread?
Tartine. Everyone uses this word, without knowing where it comes from. And yet, its etymology is very simple!
Tarte (Pie)
Tartine derives simply from the word tarte (pie): a pastry topped with different products, salty or sweet. Tartine is a slice of bread or a rusk, on which one usually spreads butter and adds food, like a jam or a slice of ham. It is not mandatory to put butter, but butter is an important part of the tartine successful history, hence the expression, buttered toast.
My love for figs comes from a younger age I try to use them as often as possible for example here with this fig and cheese tart and here with this ricotta, figs, honey tartine
History
We discover the word tartine for the first time in a document of 1596, it is then synonymous with bread slice buttered. In the foreground of a painting by Peter Bruegel (16th century) the Elder’s ‘Wedding meal’, we see a peasant child eating bread with butter.
But at the time, and until the end of the nineteenth century, the word is considered familiar, vulgar and not even French according to some. This bad reputation comes from the presence of bread being reserved for the less affluent while the rich preferred brioche and pastries where the butter is integrated into the dough while it is only spread (very finely) on the bread.
Making your summer’s tartine
I can remember the moment I tasted my first Tartine, it was when I lived in Aix-en-Provence, in the south of France I entered a small bistro at the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, filled with small tables and people going in and out! I had been in France only for a couple of weeks and my French was very limited so I picked the one menu item that had a picture. To my delightful surprise, it was crunchy, sweet and savory, and all-around delicious at the same time.
Summer’s Tartine
Ingredients
- 4 slices nuts and seeds bread cut ½ -inch thick
- 1 cup of Fromage fouetté or ricotta cheese salted
- 1 or 2 tablespoons olive oil for drizzling
- 3 teaspoons balsamic vinegar reduction
- 1 cups wild baby arugula or mixed greens
- 4 thin slices Iberico Serrano or prosciutto
- 3 figs sliced
- 1 or 2 tablespoons honey for drizzling
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat your broiler in the oven.
- Lightly brush both sides of the bread slices with olive oil. Grill the bread until golden brown, about 2 minutes, then turn and grill the second side about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Season the cheese with salt and pepper. Divide this mixture and spread over the 4 slices of bread. warm for 2 minutes in the oven.
- Top each with three slices tomatoes. Divide the arugula onto the tomatoes slices. Sprinkle with salt and cracked black pepper. Top each sandwich with ham with slices of figs. Drizzle over a little honey and a little balsamic vinegar reduction.
- For the balsamic reduction :
- Pour a cup of balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring the heat to a boil without reducing the heat on the stove.
- At this point, turn down the heat so that boil reduces to a simmer. Stir occasionally and allow to simmer until the vinegar has reduced by at least half (for a thinner reduction) or more (for a more syrupy consistency). Allow to cool and transfer to an airtight container; store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Nutrition
So if you don’t know what to fix for lunch or dinner and have bread and all sorts of odds and ends in the fridge! You should definitely try this!
Have a great week under the Summer sun!
Gaila
16 thoughts on “Summer’s Tartine”
I need this in my life right away! I a fig person too… and I love your plates.
Enri!!! gracias! Thank you for stopping by! We are fig sisters then!
Pero que divino el plato me encantó que hayas jugado con el diseño y el styling.
Gracias Alejandra! que bueno que te haya gustado!
So delicious, easy to make and with ingredients I can find in my fridge. Awesome!
Hola Silvia!! I know this is the best, easy and simple!! thank you!
This looks so yummy! We are in Mexico right now and the figs are so sweet and good. They would go great on this recipe.
Ahhhh Blanca!!! then enjoy!! figs in season are the sweetest!
That’s look si good and yummy and easy for a Daddy like me.
Andyyy! it’s super easy to make for a daddy like you!!!
Esta combinación me fascina y me viene súper a tiempo ahora que los higos están en temporada.
Siii, así es. Esto es lo buenos de las tartines, puedes poner tu combinación de sabores y texturas favoritas además de utilizar productos de temporada!
Beautiful. A picture of summer. A taste of summer. Honestly, I’d probably use goat cheese instead of ricotta, but that’s just me.
Mimi!! thank you so much for stopping by!! I love you idea of using goat cheese!! so that is what I will probably use in my next tartine!!
L’été c’est parfait pour manger des tartines à volonté !
Merci!! Je suis totalement d’accord