Three Square
Summer campfire cooking: tomato-basil frittata, southwest black bean burgers, and one-pot pasta with grilled sausage and mushrooms
Tomato-Basil Frittata
Have a big group that wants eggs? Serve them frittatas. This classic Italian breakfast dish is easy to make, requires little active cooking time, and can be customized to fit the flavor preferences of your group. For this recipe, we feature a summery tomato and basil combination, along with a sautéed shallot and gruyère cheese.
At home, a frittata is usually baked in an oven, but at the campsite we need to get creative. We chose a 10-inch cast-iron skillet placed on a campfire grill grate and used hardwood lump charcoal, but embers from your campfire work as well. Just be sure to raise the grate high enough so the skillet receives medium-low heat.
Before pouring in the egg mixture, we make sure the cast iron has a decent amount of cooking oil or butter in it, as nobody wants burnt eggs sticking to the bottom. Then in go the egg mix, the toppings, and grated cheese, and the skillet is covered with a cast-iron lid. To help the frittata cook evenly, we use a pair of tongs to place some of the charcoal embers on top of the lid. This radiates heat, ensuring the mixture cooks from both the top and bottom.
- 8 eggs
- ½ cup milk
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 shallot, sliced thin
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- ¼ cup basil, chopped
- ½ cup shredded gruyère cheese
- Prepare a campfire or charcoal for cooking. In a medium bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper until thoroughly blended. Set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the shallot and sauté until soft and beginning to brown, 7 to 10 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low by raising your campfire grate or moving the skillet to the cooler side of the grill. Add the tomatoes to the skillet, followed by the egg mixture, basil, and cheese. Cover and scatter a few embers across the lid.
- Cook until the frittata has puffed up and the eggs are just set, about 15 minutes (check at 10 minutes to gauge progress, using heatproof gloves or a lid lifter to remove the lid).
- Serve with additional cheese and basil if desired.
Southwest Black Bean Burger
Camping lunches can be tricky. Who wants to prepare another meal when you barely finished cleaning up breakfast? That’s why it’s nice to have a lunch that can be prepared at least partially ahead of time. And for that, these black bean burgers hit the spot.
We shredded a sweet potato, mashed the black beans, scrambled an egg, and mixed in panko breadcrumbs at our campsite to show it can be done, but the smart move is to do it at home, put the mix into a resealable container, and pull it out of your cooler when lunchtime rolls around.
There are two tricks to getting this recipe to work. The first is to rinse and drain the black beans thoroughly to prevent the burgers from being too soft. The second is to know that not all panko is created equal: It can vary quite a bit between brands. You’ll have to experiment to find the right mix for you. The goal is to have the texture and structure of a ground beef burger—if your burgers feel mushy, add more panko.
While it is possible to grill these burgers, the abysmal state of most campground grates makes using a cast-iron skillet a better option. With a bit of oil in the pan, they’ll form a delicious crunchy exterior.
- 8 ounces grated sweet potato (about 1 medium)
- 15.5-ounce can black beans, drained
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1½ cups panko
- 6 burger buns
- Spicy mayo
- Avocado
- Using the small holes on a cheese grater, shred the sweet potato. Place the sweet potato in a bowl with the drained black beans. Using the back of a fork, mash the beans with the sweet potato. Once you have a fairly smooth mixture, add the egg and the spices and stir to incorporate. If prepping at home, these steps can be done with a food processor using a grater attachment. Add the panko and stir to combine with the bean and sweet potato mixture. Set aside for 10 minutes.
- To form the patties, take about ¼ cup of the mixture and form a ball, pressing it together with your hands. Flatten the ball into a patty about ¾-inch thick. Set aside and repeat with the rest of the mixture to form 6 patties total.
- Heat a teaspoon of oil in a skillet. Once hot, add the patties and cook 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until the outside is crisp and the inside is cooked through but still tender. Grill the buns, if desired.
- To serve, spread spicy mayo on the buns, then layer in the burger patty, avocado, and any other toppings or condiments.
One-Pot Pasta with Grilled Sausage and Mushrooms
If you really want to crank up the sense of community, few meals give you that big family dinner feeling like a good old-fashioned pasta dish. Every week growing up, we had a red sauce pasta night that was the highlight of the meal lineup.
To make use of the abundant heat source of campfire embers, we sauté diced bell peppers and onions in a cast-iron skillet. Over medium heat, you can brown them in about 10 minutes, but done over low heat you can slowly caramelize them to perfection in about 20 to 30 minutes.
Once the peppers and onions are ready, we toss in some minced garlic for a minute and then pour in the red sauce. As this is a one-pot meal, we add water so the pasta will cook in the sauce. (Use the sauce jar to add the water so you can get every last bit out of it.)
Dump in the pasta and stir it. Try to find a good heat spot where the sauce simmers and then keep the pasta moving. It might look a little soupy at first, but excess water will either evaporate or be absorbed by the pasta.
While the pasta cooks, use the extra real estate on the grate to grill spicy Italian sausages and marinated portobello mushrooms. Cooking over embers, they pick up a great smoky flavor and taste better than if they were just sautéed in a pan.
- 4 portobello mushrooms
- 4 sausages
- 10 ounces pasta
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 small yellow onion
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 24 ounces pasta sauce
- ½ cup parmesan cheese
- In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, garlic powder, and onion powder. Place the portobellos on a large plate or cutting board and brush half the marinade over the tops. Wait 5 minutes, then flip and brush the remaining marinade on the other side of the mushrooms. Marinate 5 minutes more.
- Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the peppers, onions, and salt and sauté until soft and beginning to brown, 10 minutes.
- Add the sauce with 2 cups of water to the skillet. Add the pasta and stir to combine.
- Cook the pasta until tender—the time on the package directions is a good place to start, but it may need a few minutes extra. Stir often to ensure that the pasta cooks evenly.
- While the pasta is cooking, grill the sausages and portobellos. Both will need about 10 minutes total, flipping halfway.
- Once the pasta is tender, remove from the heat. Serve with the sausages, portobellos, and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.
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