Ingredients

Servings 4

• 6 slices white bread
• ⅝ lb mozzarella cheese
• 8 tablespoons Academia Barilla Sicilian Cherry Tomato Topping
• extra virgin olive oil to taste
• salt and pepper to taste
• oregano

Preparation

15 minutes preparation + 3 minutes cooking

Cut 2-inch squares from the slices of bread and toast in the oven or on the grill until golden.

Dice the mozzarella, add them to the tomatoes and toss with a pinch of salt, a little olive oil, a grinding of pepper and oregano.

Cover the toasted bread with this mixture and serve it.

Food History

The first tomatoes were imported to Europe in the early 16th century by Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortès and arrived in Italy a couple of decades later. Like in the rest of Europe, tomatoes were not immediately popular in Italy and were even called “more beautiful than flavorful” by a doctor of the time. Originally thought to be harmful to one’s health and used for their ornamental value, tomatoes were first consumed by poor Europeans in the 17th century who would fry them in oil and season them with salt and pepper.
Today, the tomato is one of the most common ingredients in Italian cuisine. There are many different types of tomatoes grown here, including some of the most famous, like the cherry tomatoes from Pachino, located in the most southern part of Sicily. These small, round tomatoes were first cultivated in the 1920s by local farmers who discovered that by watering their tomato plants with the salty water from nearby wells, their tomatoes became really flavorful.
Thanks to the slightly salty taste and high vitamin C content, Pachino tomatoes have become the most famous Italian tomato variety in the world.

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