These “soldiers” make an incredible snack that goes hand in hand with beer. Crispy stripes of sourdough bread dry-fried and coated in olive oil + garlic.
We love them and I am sure you will too! If you are not into beer snacks then cut them into cubes and you have delicious croutons for soups & salads! Either way you won’t be disappointed! Dry-fried garlic sourdough soldiers rock!
Truth be told I wasn’t sure how to call them. I only know the Estonian word which means garlic bread …However, it is not the garlic bread we know.
So let me introduce you to this very popular Estonian snack. Küüslauguleivad or as I call them Dry-Fried Garlic Sourdough Soldiers are best enjoyed with beer. You can find them in any pub in Estonia or buy them packed in plastic containers or packets in supermarkets.
It is traditionally made with dark rye bread but as there is no way I can get my hands on such bread in Spain (or at least in the area where I live) I figured multi-seed sourdough bread would do just fine. And it did!
Originally, these bread strips are deep fried but I don’t think these soldiers needs any deep frying at all and that is why I simply dry-fried them in a frying pan and afterwards coated them with extra virgin olive oil mixed with crushed garlic cloves. I put them back in the pan for a further minute or two, tossing constantly. This is important because you don’t want to burn the garlic. Transfer them into a bowl and serve!
Store in an air-tight container before serving!
Dry-Fried Garlic Sourdough Soldiers
Ingredients
- 300 g Sourdough Bread or Dark Rye Bread, stale (2-3 days old) (10.5oz)
- 5 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 3 Garlic Cloves
Instructions
- Slice the bread. Cut the slices into equally thin strips (soldiers).
- Heat up the widest frying pan you have. Throw the bread soldiers in and toast until crispy and nice golden brown on each side. Toss them around regularly. Do not use any oil or butter!
- Meanwhile: In a large bowl mix extra virgin olive oil with crushed garlic (use garlic press).
- When the bread pieces are ready and toasted from each side, throw them in the bowl and using a spoon/your hands/ pastry brush coat the soldiers with the mix.
- Transfer back in the pan and fry for about 2 minutes. Make sure you don’t burn the garlic.
- Serve in a bowl! This snack is best enjoyed with beer!
Leave a Reply