Bruschetta, pan con tomate, flatbreads with mezze, paratha and roti: we are, as multicultural epicureans, more than au fait with the idea of bread, toasted or otherwise, being the cornerstone of some truly flavoursome feasts, whether as a vehicle for a delicious topping or as a way to mop up the last morsels on a plate. But when it comes to more home-grown fare, we tend to think of toast as a strictly breakfast foodstuff, used chiefly for jam or Marmite and washed down with a coffee, or at a push, buttered and rustled up alongside a cup of tea in the afternoon if we’re really branching out. If toast does migrate to suppertime, it is usually as an apologetic beans-on-toast-in-front-of-the-telly affair (not that we are knocking it as one of life’s mid-week pleasures).

We love toast in all its forms, but when we’re feeling fancy, this is what we’ll be serving up alongside a glass of something stronger than tea.

White Bean And Parma Ham Bruchetta


The Happy Foodie Via A Love of Eating: Recipes from Tart London
White Bean And Parma Ham Bruchetta

Ever-so-slightly charred toast, chilli, sage, rosemary, lemon and cannellini beans: this exceptionally tasty Tuscan bite from boutique caterers Lucy Carr-Ellison and Jemima Jones’ 2018 book, A Love of Eating: Recipes from Tart London, is exactly what we want to eat most days, whether as lunch or a nibble with drinks. Salty, hearty, fresh and drizzled in olive oil, we cannot recommend them highly enough. Get the recipe.


Smashed Broad Beans On Toast


Olive Magazine
Smashed Broad Beans On Toast

Elevate your beans on toast game to something sublime and fresh with Olive Magazine’s zingy green and altogether healthier take on the traditional comfort fare. Any allotmenteers who find themselves with a glut of broad beans should whip this up on repeat, loading their bounty – along with rocket, garlic, lemon, chilli flakes and pecorino – onto a slice of toasted sourdough. Ideal as a quick lunch or dinner and endlessly tasty. Get the recipe.


Fig Ricotta Toast


The Feed Feed
Fig Ricotta Toast

Sometimes only the sweet stuff will do. This perfect marriage of soft and creamy ricotta with fleshy sweet figs, a drizzle of honey and the salty crunch of pistachios, all served up on toast, makes it worthy of the food of the gods. We may have to wait a while until figs are in season, but when they are, we will be ready to serve this up with a cold glass of fizz on the side. Get the recipe.


Wild Mushroom Bruschetta With Feta And Pesto


Delicious Magazine
Wild Mushroom Bruschetta With Feta And Pesto

Whether as a way to kick-start the day as a Sunday brunch or to round it off any night of the week at suppertime, this earthily delicious recipe is both wholesome and flavour-packed. With a meaty medley of mixed wild mushrooms, a salty kick in the form of some crumbled feta and the perfect canvas of a slice of good quality sourdough, all that remains is to douse the lot in a homemade pesto, with traditional basil, zingy mint, blanched hazelnut, parmesan and half a lemon. We would happily eat this at any hour of the day. Get the recipe.


Croûte Savoyarde


Olive Magazine
Croute Savoyarde

You can trust food writer Felicity Cloake to deliver the goods when it comes to comfort food. Writing in Olive magazine, she describes this as, ‘Alpine cheese on toast, basically, and just the thing to warm your cockles after a hard morning cycling up mountains, or falling over in snowdrifts – or alternatively, just a bracing autumnal walk. If you don’t have stale bread to use up, you can make this with fresh stuff, just toast it first to dry it out.’ If you are able to resist the melted nuttiness of comté or gruyere soaked in white wine and topped with a crispy egg and some ham, then you are made of sterner stuff than us. Get the recipe.

By Nancy Alsop
February 2024