You might believe that toast is for breakfast. But in fact, something so elemental — and good — shouldn’t be confined to a narrow slice of the day. Our favorite toasts are the kind that happen around dinnertime, when we’ve been known to lay out a board of bread with small serving bowls of whatever’s on hand (last night’s pulled pork? pickled okra?) and call it crostini. The fun is in the combining.
Pour some wine (for the other kind of toasting) and within minutes you’ve got both food and entertainment. Which is why, with just a few tweaks, this improvised dinner can turn into the perfect holiday party.
Variations on crostini often make their way on to restaurant menus, so we asked two of Chicago’s top chefs, Thomas Lents and Chris Pandel, to add their ideas to our party plan. The results are deliciously inspiring.
Chef Thomas Lents
Sixteen, Trump hotel
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1. Crostini with salad of laccinato kale and white beans, grilled mackerel, tomato jam, toasted pine nuts on olive oil fried Sourdough
2. Crostini with Nantucket Bay scallops with fresh horseradish and celery remoulade on Toasted rye bread
For the kale: Julienne laccinato kale then toss with cooked white beans. Dress with aged sherry vinegar and salt.
For celery root remoulade: Peel and julienne celery root, toss with chopped capers and moisten with mayonnaise and Dijon mustard.
For the scallops: Sear Nantucket Bay scallops and slice.
Chef Chris Pandel
Balena, The Bristol
1. Crostini with roast squash with spiced cream cheese and pomegranate seeds on toasted pumpkin brioche
2. Crostini with beet salad, toasted pumpkin seeds, purslane and endive on toasted dark rye
For the squash: Season squash halves with salt and pepper, roast. Mash pulp with orange zest and olive oil.
For the spiced cream cheese: Combine a mixture of half cream cheese, half mascarpone; spice to taste with chili flakes, ground coriander, ground nutmeg, ground fennel, honey, kosher salt.
For the beets: Boil until tender with salt and bay leaves. Peel, dice and marinate with sherry
vinegar, olive oil, a dab of Dijon mustard, minced shallot, julienned mint and kosher salt.
For the purslane salad: Toss purslane leaves with 1/4-inch round slices of endive, toasted pumpkin seeds, olive oil, sherry vinegar and kosher salt.
Toasting DIY
Invite guests to re-create toasts from chefs Lents and Pandel — or let them tap their inner epicure and design their own. A few ingredients from the gourmet grocer to get you started:
Spanish sardines
Marinated gigante beans
Asian pear, thinly sliced
Roasted piquillo peppers
Swiss chard, lightly sauteed
Manchego cheese, roasted
Handmade salami or chorizo
Caramelized onions
Spicy kimchi
Fig preserves
Fresh chevre
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Smoked gouda
Wild mushrooms, sauteed
The bread
Pumpkin brioche, toasted
Sourdough, brushed with olive oil and rubbed with raw garlic, grilled
Rye, dark and light, toasted