On a cool night around the campfire, there are few things that warm the body and soul better than comfort food. Here's what you need to know in order to make your favorite meals at the campsite.
The Tools
Comfort food is usually easy to prepare, often only requiring a single pot. Here are the tools you'll need at camp.
- Dutch Oven: This is the camping version of a crock-pot. Put everything in, stick it in the coals and wait for the flavors to meld into one.
- Tin Foil Packets: Put everything in one small packet to create individual meals that will warm your insides.
- Pie Iron: The history of this trusty campfire cooking tool goes all the way back to the early 1900's. Though no one person is credited as the inventor of this item, one thing is sure: it's an excellent cooking tool, perfect for making comfort food staples.
Other standard campsite cooking items are often helpful, such as a pot and cast iron pan.
The Recipes
Most people have their own comfort food favorites, but here are a few universal crowd pleasers.
Lasagna: Tin Foil Style
Warm and cheesy are nearly synonymous with the term "comfort food," which makes lasagna a great meal to have on a cold night at the campsite.
Tools Used: Dutch oven and pot
Ingredients:
- Noodles: Par-boiled or raw
- Pasta sauce
- Vegetables: yellow squash, mushrooms, spinach and onions
- Ground meat: turkey or beef
- Cheese
- Minced garlic
- Butter
- Add water to your pot, place it over the fire and add in the noodles once the water boils. You can par-boil the noodles at home to save time.
- Rip a 5-inch square of tin foil, and place a small piece of butter on the bottom. Layer your ingredients as follows: Thin layer of sauce on the bottom, noodle, vegetables, meat, cheese, and a small pinch of minced garlic. Continue for three layers, and end with a noodle on top.
- Loosely close your packet and put it in a bed of hot coals, but not directly in the fire. The cook time will depend on how hot your coals are. Check back at 10 minutes.
- Once the meal is a few minutes from finishing, remove your tin foil packets from the fire, pour sauce and cheese on the top and place them on the fire pit grate. This allows the sauce to heat and the cheese to melt.
For an added touch of home, make grilled garlic bread while cooking the lasagna. Coat crostini or bread slices with olive oil and garlic powder, and toast them on the grate. Serve them with your meal in the tin foil packet.
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