Crumbs! asparagus Can you cook toaster? in a

MOST households in Britain apparently spend up to 35 hours a year making toast. But if you thought your pop-up toaster could only be used for sliced bread — and, at a pinch, crumpets — think again.

Chefs and food bloggers say the humble appliance is much more versatile than you might imagine. With a little know-how, it can be used to cook everything from asparagus and fish fingers to bacon, potatoes and pizza. Here’s how: Pop-up potatoes SWeeT potato toast, a ‘cleaneating’ staple is a large, grilled, baked or toasted slice of the root vegetable served instead of bread as the base of an open sandwich.

Topped with everything from mashed avocado to smoked salmon, poached eggs and peanut butter, enthusiasts say it’s easy to make in a toaster. DOES IT WORK? I found the most tricky — and dangerous — part of the operation chopping the unpeeled sweet potato lengthways into broad, neat slices (too thin and they’ll fall to bits, too thick and they’ll never cook through). To stop the sweet potato rolling away, I put it on a clean, damp tea towel to keep it still before slicing it lengthways.

I admit, I was nervous about putting the slices in my toaster. I feared they might leak sticky juices inside the machine, or worse still, catch light — thankfully neither happened.

It took a laborious 15 minutes — six toasting cycles — for the slices to become soft on the inside, but by then the outside was charred.

The potato ‘toast’ was tasty, though, and made an interesting base for an open sandwich. Asparagus and bacon FISH fingers, veggie burgers, bacon and even asparagus spears can be cooked in a toaster just like toasted sandwiches in reusable, heatproof Toastabags, (£6.99 for two, lakeland.co.uk), according to the manufacturer.

Just pop your choice in the bag and toast, and re-toast until the contents are cooked through. DOES IT WORK? You don’t get the crispy finish you’d get with oven cooking or frying, but the 150c heat from the toaster will cook thinly sliced meat, fish and vegetables. However, I needed to run the toaster cycle multiple times to get the food cooked through. The other peril is overfilling the toaster bag becauseescaping spatters of food could damage your machine. Wash the reusable bags carefully after each use too — to avoid making holes. DIY taco shells ALL out of tortilla chips? You can make your own in a toaster, plus crispy stand-up taco shells. DOES IT WORK? Just fold a soft, tortilla wrap in half and place in the toaster. Small tortilla wraps like Tesco’s Plain 8 Mini Tortillas, 70p, or Santa Maria 12 Mini Coconut and Black Pepper Soft Tortillas, £1.50 from Ocado should fit the slots without being trimmed. Cook on the top setting until nice and crispy.

The folded, toasted tortillas should keep their new shape and you can fill them with Mexican beef chilli, salad and cheese.

To make tortilla chips to dip in guacamole, salsa or sour cream, toast pieces of soft tortilla until crisp, then cut into triangles. Resurrect leftovers FANCY reheating some tasty leftovers? Cold pizza and garlic bread can both be warmed through in a toaster. DOES IT WORK? Again, you need toaster bags like Toastabags or KitchenCraft Non-Stick Toastie Bags (£ 4.85 for two ( amazon.co.uk). Just pop your slice in the bag and toast until piping hot and delicious. Other leftovers, such as onion rings, hash browns and even French fries can be treated in the same way. It does take a few toasting cycles, so it would be easier to put them in a microwave or hot oven — but it does work.