Seven delicious things to put on toast (that aren't beans)

Times

01-08-2025

Whoever said toast isn't a real meal needs to speak to Katie Marshall, the cookery writer and food stylist who has dedicated her latest book, Toast, to the subject. 'It's a celebration of all the things I've found to round up into a delicious meal by being delicately presented on a steaming, golden, aromatic slice of toast,' she says.
There's nothing wrong with resorting to a piece of toast piled with beans or topped with a poached egg, but Marshall's book is a guide to all the possibilities beyond. 'I want to expand the horizons of your toast-based feasting,' she adds. There are breakfasts, spreads, dips and desserts — yes, really.
My favourite in the book is her take on sausages on toast, made with fennel, stock and a splash of cream, which transcends meal times and makes a fuelling breakfast to kick-start the morning or a comforting dinner after a long day. 'It's a fantastic combination. The rich fattiness of the pork works so nicely with the sweet anise hints of the softened fennel,' Marshall says.
Just as important as the toppings are the breads. Marshall has a whole chapter on them, from brioche (best for desserts) to melba toasts (best for pâtés and spreads). 'There's a dish for every occasion: snacks to be relished alone on the sofa; meals that will give amazing leftovers for the next day's lunch, and dishes to share,' she says. 'Something for everyone.'
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Serves 2
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve• 3 garlic cloves, sliced• 8 anchovy fillets in olive oil• 200g queen chickpeas (drained weight)• ¼ tsp chilli flakes• 2 tbsp capers, drained• Juice of ½ lemon• 2 tbsp double cream• Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper• 2 slices of light rye or brown sourdough• 1½ tbsp roughly chopped parsley
1. Heat the olive oil in a medium non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the garlic and anchovies and cook for 5-6 min, stirring, until the anchovies have broken down, the garlic is turning golden and the oil is foaming. Add the chickpeas, followed by the chilli flakes and capers.
2. Sizzle and cook through for a minute before adding the lemon juice. Cook for a minute, then remove from the heat and stir in the cream and parsley. Grind in a little salt, if liked, and plenty of black pepper.
3. Toast the bread, drizzle a little more extra virgin olive oil over it, then pile on the chickpeas and serve sprinkled with parsley.
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Serves 4
• 4 eggs• 120ml light soy sauce• 3 garlic cloves, sliced• 1 chilli, deseeded and sliced• 2 tbsp mirin• 2 tbsp rice or white wine vinegar (or black vinegar, if possible)• 220ml water• 150g kimchi, finely chopped, plus 20g for serving• 100g cream cheese• 4 pieces of milk bread, or milk bread buns, toasted• ½ tbsp toasted sesame seeds• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
1. Bring a pan of water to the boil. Carefully lower in the eggs and cook for 7 min. Remove with a slotted spoon to a bowl of iced water and leave to cool while you prepare the marinade.
2. Put the soy sauce, garlic, chilli, mirin and vinegar in a saucepan with the water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 5 min. Peel the eggs and put into a small, heatproof bowl. Pour the marinade over the top. Marinate for at least an hour (or overnight if you have time). Refrigerate when cooled (if marinating for more than an hour). Drain before serving.
3. Combine the kimchi and cream cheese in a bowl, then spread onto the toasted bread.
4. Top with extra kimchi and a halved egg. Scatter with the sesame seeds and spring onion.
Serves 4
• 6 medium eggs• 40g mayonnaise• 2 tbsp gochujang paste• 1 tsp rice vinegar• 3 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced• 2 milk buns, halved • Crispy onions, to serve
1. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Add the eggs and cook for 8 min. Run the pan under cold water, then transfer the eggs to a bowl of cold water (iced if possible) to cool completely. Peel the eggs and set one aside.
2. Roughly mash the remaining eggs in a bowl before adding the mayonnaise, gochujang, rice vinegar and the spring onion whites.
3. Put the milk bread under the grill to toast. Cut the final boiled egg into four lengthways. Top the toasted milk buns with the gochujang egg mayo and an egg quarter, sprinkle with the spring onion greens, and finish with crispy onions.
Serves 2
• 1½ tbsp olive oil• 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced, fronds reserved• 3 Cumberland sausages• 1 tsp fennel seeds• 2 garlic cloves, crushed• 125ml chicken stock• 50ml single cream• 25g parmesan, grated• Juice of ½ lemon• 2 large slices of sourdough• Freshly ground black pepper and chilli flakes, to serve
1. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a wide-based frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the fennel and cook for 6-8 min until softened. Tip into a bowl.
2. Return the pan to the heat and add the remaining olive oil. Squeeze the sausage from its skin (if it has one) directly into the pan, breaking up with a wooden spoon to make little nuggets. Fry for about 2 min until brown.
3. Return the fennel to the pan with the fennel seeds and garlic and fry for another minute until fragrant. Add the stock and cook for 2 min until the stock has almost completely reduced.
4. Turn down the heat and stir through the cream, parmesan and lemon juice to combine. Season with pepper.
5. Toast the sourdough and top with the sausage mixture, finishing with the fennel fronds and a sprinkling of chilli flakes.
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Serves 2
• 200g red grapes on their vine• 2 shallots, thinly sliced• 1 tbsp olive oil• 1 sprig of rosemary, leaves picked• 2 slices of seeded sourdough, or bread of your choice• 120g brie, thickly sliced• 20g walnuts• Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1. Preheat the oven to 180C fan/gas 6 and line a baking sheet with parchment.
2. Put the grapes onto the sheet with the sliced shallot. Drizzle with the oil and scatter with the rosemary. Season with salt and pepper. Put in the oven and cook for 8 min.
3. Lightly toast your bread in a toaster, then top with the brie. Put the brie toast and the grapes separately on another baking sheet and cook for 8 min, adding the walnuts to the tray for the final 3 min. Allow the walnuts to cool slightly before roughly chopping.
4. Use a fork to pull the grapes away from their vine. Top the brie on toast with the grapes and shallot, then scatter with the chopped walnuts and add a good grind of black pepper.
Serves 2
• ½ red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped• 1 garlic clove, crushed• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil• 1 tsp honey• 1 tsp Dijon mustard• 1 tsp white wine vinegar• Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper• 1 flat or round peach, sliced• 12cm piece of ciabatta, cut in half• Handful of rocket• 4 slices of Parma ham• 1 ball of burrata, 150g drained weight
1. Put the chilli and garlic in a heatproof bowl. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a frying pan. When hot, pour over the chilli and garlic in the bowl, before stirring in the honey, mustard and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper, then mix to combine.
2. Place a griddle over a high heat. Add the peach slices and cook for about 2½ minutes on each side until charred. Set aside.
3. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the frying pan and set over a medium-high heat.
4. Add the ciabatta, cut-side down, and fry for 3-4 minutes until golden. Top the golden ciabatta with some rocket and 2 pieces of Parma ham per slice. Divide the burrata between the plates and top with the peach slices, then the dressing.
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Serves 4
• 200ml white wine• 300ml water• 200g golden caster sugar • Pared zest of 1 lemon• 2 conference pears, peeled, halved and cored• 200g blanched hazelnuts• 1 tsp ground cinnamon• Flaky sea salt• 4 thin slices of sourdough
1. Combine the wine, water, caster sugar and lemon zest in a medium saucepan big enough for the four pear halves. Set over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved, then add the pear halves so they are submerged in the liquid. Cover with a disc of baking parchment and weigh down slightly with a smaller pan lid which will sit on the liquid surface just above the pears. Simmer gently for 15 min, then leave to cool in their liquid.
2. Pour 100ml poaching liquor into a small saucepan and return to a medium heat.
3. Boil to reduce until you have a third of the liquid remaining.
4. Preheat the oven to 180C fan/gas 6.
5. Toast the hazelnuts in the oven for 7-8 min until golden. Set 1 tablespoon of the nuts aside to be chopped, then transfer the rest straight into the small bowl of a food processor and blend until it has formed a paste (scraping down the sides intermittently to get any nuts that are escaping the blades). Add a good pinch of flaky sea salt and the cinnamon, and mix briefly to combine.
6. Toast the sourdough then spread with the hazelnut spread. Slice the pear and fan across each toast slice, drizzling with a little of the reduced syrup and finish with a scattering of the chopped hazelnuts.
Toast by Katie Marshall (Headline £18.99). To order a copy go to timesbookshop.co.uk. Free UK standard P&P on orders over £25. Special discount available for Times+ members