Great breadcrumbs

and other ideas to reuse good bread

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Relentless

I must admit, I am a little envious when I read articles stating that summer is ending and that it is time to bake plum pies.

Here in Rome summer is still full on, and brutal, my friends. Temperatures have been hovering around 36-38 C° (near 100°F) for the last 7 weeks.

The only relief from the relentless heat is my daily swim at the local pool. The view of a Roman aqueduct over the blue water always makes my day.

I haven’t used my oven for more than a month, unless I can make a recipe that needs little attendance, so I can be in another room when the oven is switched on.

In case you also live in a place when late summer has not arrived, this month’s newsletter is all about making recipes that are a treat and don’t kill you by overheating.

The easy way to reuse good bread

Does it break your heart to throw away part of that wonderful and expensive loaf you bought only a few days ago, and is now stale?

When we had a farm, I had had access to wonderful, freshly milled flour which I used to make bread and cakes for the B&B breakfast and, obviously, for the cooking classes.

At breakfast time, the bread was served still warm from the oven with jams made with the fruit of our trees and or obtained from other small scale growers. So many friends and former guests still wax nostalgic about that bread and jam.

Photo by Mario Mesaglio on Unsplash

Having made so much bread in my life, I have a deep respect for it and I would never waste it. And besides, bread is such a fundamental ingredient of the Italian cuisine, there is always a use for it.

Bake it to crispy goodness

When I have too much bread, e.g. the end pieces of unfinished loaves, I slice them and dried them in the oven at low temperature (120 °C/ 250 F°) for 30 min or until lightly golden and crispy.

In the summer however, I just place the leftover pieces on a tray and keep them in the oven to air-dry.

If I need to bake, I remove the tray with bread, and place it back in the oven once it’s turned off but still warm. That way, the bread keeps drying and becomes extra crispy, similar to krisprolls or friselle.

Once perfectly dry, I store the bread in paper bags where it keeps for a very long time. I use it in salads like panzanella and to top warm or cold soups like this refreshing concoction of cucumber and ricotta which is perfect for this weather

If you bread is dense and does not break when dry, run it quickly under cold water and let it rest 10 minutes to absorb the moisture.

When it’s not so hot, I also use the dry bread to make sweet and savory bread-and-butter puddings. The one with cheese and ham below is a great quick dinner always popular with kids.

Why you should make your own delicious breadcrumbs

Do you ever think of your breadcrumbs?

Don’t laugh. I recurrently have thoughts like that.

I know, it is so easy to buy breadcrumbs. However, did you ever taste store-bought breadcrumbs out of the box? To me, they often taste like sawdust. Do you really need to add a tasteless ingredient to a recipe?

Now, try to taste crispy breadcrumbs made with great bread. They are delicious and they will improve anything you make with it.

To make breadcrumbs, I transfer the dried bread in a paper bag and crush it into smaller pieces with a hammer. Then I refine them in the food processor.

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What to cook this month

The stuffed tomatoes I just published on the blog are a perfect example of how great breadcrumbs make a fabulous dish. Check the recipe with a step by step tutorial here. Make extra, you will love the leftovers.

Eggplants, of course

The “lazy basil eggplant sformato” is another recipe that can be adapted to seasonal cooking and makes good use of your delicious breadcrumbs. If it’s too hot, you can grill the eggplants on the BBQ or a cast iron pan. I bake the sformato in a toaster oven and serve it at room temperature with a salad and slices of juicy watermelon as a dessert.

A similar concept, baking when you don’t have to be in the kitchen, serve at room temperature or slightly reheated, can be applied to the roasted eggplants alla marinara, also available on the blog with a full tutorial. No bread in this recipe, but a great vegetable based main that you can easily scale for a party.

Back to the breadcrumbs, for something more substantial, you could also try these paper thin pork cutlets, coated in a herbed garlicky crust and fried. They are so addictive, you will never have leftovers!

Plums and wine

Form me, the combination of dark ripe plums, red wine and cinnamon represents aromatic perfection. Last summer I had too many plums which I transformed in a preserved spiced compote. It pairs beautifully with pannacotta, custard, mascarpone cream (the one for tiramisù) and gelato.

Here is the recipe served on a creamy mixture of yogurt and ricotta, unbelievable simple and delicious: