You Don't Have To Be A Chef To Make Gordon Ramsay's Midnight Snack

While you may associate Gordon Ramsay with the finest of haute cuisines served at his various Michelin-starred fine-dining restaurants, the renowned chef and TV personality loves unpretentious comfort food like the rest of us. In a recent interview with Bon Appetit Magazine, Ramsay divulged that his favorite midnight snack is the beloved British dish, beans on toast. Popular as a meal for college kids or hasty home chefs, beans on toast is as far from the lofty, technical maneuvers of Ramsay's high-end menus as you can get. That said, Ramsay does make a few tweaks that'll take a basic beans on toast snack to the next level.

He provides the unique ingredients and cooking methods he uses to elevate his favorite midnight snack. "That would be baked beans," Ramsay told the magazine. "Chili flakes, garlic, Tabasco sauce, hot sauce. Sourdough bread—grilled—baked beans on top, with a duck egg, covered with Parmesan and gratinated under the grill."

Gratinate is a technical cooking term that refers to creating a crisp topping by covering your beans on toast with parmesan. Parmesan will bring a nutty, salty, and crispy contrast to the sweetness of a typical can of British baked beans, while garlic and any of the spicy ingredients Ramsay mentions likewise balance and brighten their rich sweetness. A crusty sourdough slice will handle the weight of beans without becoming soggy, while grilling it will instill crisp, smoky grill marks. Duck eggs are a richer and larger upgrade on chicken eggs.

Baked beans and toast are both integral parts of the iconic English breakfast, or fry up, along with blood pudding, sausage, bacon, eggs, tomatoes, and mushrooms. However, the popularity of baked beans on toast dates back to World War II. Ironically, baked beans became a canned staple in the U.K. when the American company Heinz established a baked bean factory in England in 1905. By the 1920s, canned baked beans and sliced bread were popular commodities and a popular duo enjoyed in working class households. However, World War II really solidified beans on toasts' iconic standing because the two ingredients were shelf-stable rations afforded to all families.

Canned beans and pre-sliced bread along with butter comprise the original recipe, which requires no real cooking. Easy assembly and affordability are still a large part of its appeal, especially with college students. Still, older generations hold a special place for beans on toast in their hearts and appetites, whether it harkens back to their own college days or wartime scarcity. Like Gordon Ramsay, many Brits take advantage of the dish's versatility by adding spices, herbs, cheese, and even sauces. Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, and grated cheddar cheese are common upgrades. You could also make your own baked beans, using this decidedly American recipe for slow-cooker baked beans with bacon and barbecue sauce instead of the more British tomato-sauce foundation.