Did you know that some of the world’s most flavoursome dishes start out with a piece of stale bread? Here is the recipe to make your own breadcrumbs at home – useful for coating, stuffing and several other succulent dishes.

INGREDIENTS

Stale bread

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 150°C and line a baking tray with some parchment paper.

Cut the bread into chunks, spread them out in a single layer on the baking tray and place them  in the oven for about 20 minutes. The time can vary depending on the type of bread you are using and how dried out it was to begin with.

Check and turn over. If not sufficiently dry, continue baking and checking at 5 minute intervals until the bread is thoroughly dried out and turning a bit golden.

Remove the bread from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Use a food processor with a standard blade (or the grater disc finer result) to grind the cooled chunks into crumbs. It will take about 1 minute on high speed and if using the standard blade you may need to pulse it a bit when you start grinding.

Cool the crumbs on the pans for 15 to 20 minutes, and then transfer to an airtight container and store at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

TEMPTING TIPS

If the bread you started with was not stale, after following the method above, return the crumbs to the oven and toast for other few minutes. In this case it is necessary to toast the bread crumbs in two stages in order to remove all the moisture

For seasoned breadcrumbs add your favourite dry herbs.