Stale bread : Do not throw it away!

Give your wonderful home made bread a second chance!

What to do with left-over bread? There are smart and tasty and surprising ways to use up old bread. These are a few of our favorites:

• You can revive stale bread by dipping it in water and baking it at 175ºC / 350ºF degrees for 7-10 minutes. You can do this ones, because your bread will still dry out from this exercise.
• Make bread crumbs. Whisk them in a blender, maybe add some seasonings, and keep in an airtight container in the fridge.
• Make croutons. Sauté stale bread cubes in plenty of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. I like adding finely chopped rosemary.
• Make bruschetta. Perfect as a snack or appetizer. See recipe below
• Bread soups. Use stale bread to thicken sauces, soups, and stews (think Italian ‘Papa al Pomodoro’ with tin tomatoes, stale bread, basil and garlic)
• French toast. For me there has to be cinnamon and maple syrup. What about filling it with brie and covering it with berries and powdered sugar?
• Just make toast and eat with fresh butter
• Make toasties/grilled sandwiches (see our 10 hot toasty ideas)
• Bread puddings. Popular in many cuisines, like British, French and Mexican. They come in sweet and savory variations.
• Although it seems a good idea, do NOT feed it to the ducks. You do not do them any favor, rather the opposite (read more)

Italian bruschetta, my favorite way to give stale bread a second chance!

Simple recipe for Italian bruschetta with tomato
Grill your stale bread under a hot grill and rub with garlic. Take fresh or canned tomatoes and slice them . In a bowl, add fresh basil to the tomatoes. Add olive oil and season with salt and black pepper, to taste. Top the grilled bread with spoonfuls of the mixture and serve immediately. You can also add some slices of mozzarella and return the bread to the grill for a minute and let it melt.

Variation: Sauté some chopped canned tomatoes in olive oil, season them and serve with fresh basil. Or, if you have some more time, you can slow roast tomatoes in the oven and use them as topping. Variations on toppings: red pepper, sun blushed tomato, vegetables, beans, cured meat or cheese.

The tradition of the bruschetta stems from the Italian olive growers. As olives are taken to the local mill for pressing in November and December, growers take some country bread with them. On a small fireplace in the corner of the pressing room, the grower toasts a bit of the bread on the fire to sample the oil with.

Baguette Dumplings
Another good stale bread recipe I saw recently was shown on a cookery program. Baguette dumplings made with stale baguettes.
For the dumplings you take 200 g stale baguette or other bread with crust. You mix it with 250 ml milk, one egg, some chopped herbs of choice, nutmeg, salt and pepper and a tablespoon of flour.
You form the mixture into balls and fry them in some butter until golden brown. A bit like savory French toast.

What’s your favorite way or favorite recipe to use up stale bread?