Skillet Sourdough Crostini
Stale bread, a little fat, and a hot pan. Something crunchy to go with soup.
- calories
- 320
- weight
- 2.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 128
- protein
- 7 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 3 min
- cook
- 7 min
- total time
- 10 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Snack
- Canister stove
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Backpacking
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Sourdough loaf or baguette | about 1/3 of a loaf, 8 slices | cut at home, 1/2 inch thick |
|---|---|---|
| Ghee or olive oil | 2 tbsp | ghee holds at ambient temperature, butter does not |
| Salt | a pinch | |
| Garlic powder | 1/2 tsp | optional |
Method
- Set a dry pan or foil over medium heat. Skillet, pot lid, or a sheet of foil on a grill grate all work.
- Lay in as many slices as fit in one layer. Toast dry, no fat yet, until the undersides are brown and stiff. Two to three minutes.
- Flip, then spread or drizzle the ghee onto the toasted side. Salt it, and the garlic powder if you brought it.
- Give the second side two more minutes, until it goes crisp and the fat has soaked in.
- Pull them off and let them sit a minute. They firm up as they cool.
The original bakes these in an oven, which nobody has in camp. A pan does the same job because the bread is thin and mostly dry already, so heat only needs to drive off the last of the moisture and brown the starch. Toasting the first side dry matters: fat added too early fries the crumb soft instead of crisping it.
Butter is out. It leaks, it goes rancid in a warm pack, and it burns fast in a thin camp pan. Ghee has the milk solids removed, so it sits at ambient temperature for a week and takes more heat before it smokes. Olive oil works too if you already carry it. Stale bread is preferred here, not tolerated, which makes this the day-three use for a loaf that has stopped being good on its own.
Packing
Slice the bread at home and pack it in a paper bag inside a stuff sack. Sealed plastic traps moisture and turns the slices soft. Ghee rides in a small screw-top jar.
Variations
- Hard cheese grated on right after the flip melts into the fat.
- Shelf-stable tomato paste and dried basil turns them into bruschetta.
- Cinnamon and sugar instead of salt makes them dessert.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/perfect-crostini-soup