Oven-Dried Breadcrumbs
The well-intentioned brunch baguette gets a second life - dried, blitzed, and ready to be snitty crumb or crunchy pangrattato whenever texture is needed.
Makes: About 2 cups
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 old baguette (or any stale bread)
olive oil, for drizzling
For panagratto (optional)
bacon, chopped
parsley, chopped
chilli, to taste
parmesan, grated
METHOD
An old baguette from a well-intentioned brunch gets a bit of additional drying with oil - tear or slice it up, drizzle with olive oil and dry it out in a low oven until crisp.
Blitz into crumb. Store in the freezer at the ready.
From here it can instantly be a schnitty crumb, or you can fry it up with some bacon, parsley, chilli and parmesan for a crunchy pangrattato to add to salads, soups and pastas. You'll be grateful for the texture when you've been as lazy as spaghetti aglio e olio.
HINTS
Keep the crumbs in the freezer - they don't clump and they're ready the second you need them.
Pangrattato is the poor man's parmesan - it turns a bare bowl of oil-and-garlic pasta into something with crunch and personality.
Any stale bread works, not just baguette - sourdough ends, forgotten rolls, the last of a loaf.
NUTRITION (per recipe total - guide only):
Energy: approximately 3800kJ (910 calories)
Protein: 30g
Fat: 15g
Saturated fat: 3g
Carbohydrates: 165g
Sugars: 8g
Fibre: 8g
Sodium: 1700mg
Note: base breadcrumbs only; excludes optional pangrattato add-ins.
This nutrition information is a guide only and may vary depending on brands, exact quantities, and ingredient substitutions used.