Texture is one of the building blocks for Matt Colgan’s stellar salads. Colgan is the chef and culinary director of Mixt, the casual salad restaurant with locations in San Jose, San Ramon, Lafayette, Oakland and San Francisco.
And this recipe … drum roll … is his secret crunch weapon: Clusters of toasted poppy, pumpkin and black and white sesame seeds are held together by three kinds of grated cheeses, baked and left to cool, before breaking them apart to top your next salad. You’ll never go back to sad grocery-store croutons again. Here’s how to make your own.
Asiago Seed Crackle
Yields about 4 cups
Ingredients
1 cup grated asiago
¾ cup grated parmesan
½ cup grated fontina
1 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
1 teaspoon poppy seeds
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Directions
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and toss until well combined.
Spread mixture out on a parchment-lined sheet pan in a thin even layer. Ingredients should be touching, but not piled on top of each other.
Bake for 7 to 8 minutes or until all the cheese is a golden brown color — be careful not to burn!
Allow to cool, then break up into small pieces. (Do not crumble into dust.) Store in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days.
— Matt Colgan, culinary director and chef, Mixt
