We've had this AMAZING rosemary bread around the house, but it was just SO big that we couldn't eat it all before it went stale. I even made croûtons RIGHT before it hardened. After some searching I finally found something that was just begging to be made with this delish bread: Zuppa di Pane cotto (~Cooked Bread Soup in Italian) First the recipe then some history and education...
Ingredients:
Water, put some in a pot
Some broken up old hard bread (not growing anything..)
Salt, ~1 -2 tbsp (I had a medium-sized pot
Olive Oil, ~1 tbsp (Butter would do well to but will alter the flavor/texture a bit)
If you have bread that has been seasoned with some herbs or whatever you don't need anything else. Really!
Instructions:
Put the water and salt in a pan and stir.
Taste to your desired level of saltiness. Just below what you like is optimal if your seasoned bread has a bit of saltiness
When liquid is almost boiling toss in the oil and throw the bread in and wait for it to soften.
Serve Immediately.
I also added some Parmesan cheese, a couple of Bay Leaves, and some fried shallots for extra flavor, at the same time as my salt.
Some Notes:
Zuppa di Pane Cotto is a VERY frugal Italian soup originating in any number of Italian cities. Bread was (is?) something not to be wasted and even when unusable for other things makes a wonderful soup
My original recipe inspiration was from this About.com food article. The article has a brief bit of history on some aspects of frugal Italian cuisine.
Further searching turned up this goldmine article from a Splendid Table article on imrov soups. This article has some of the best basic soup info I have found in one location. It's where I got the inspiration to add the cheese..
Anyway, I hope you enjoy my recipe and the extra info.. Any other good, frugal recipes? Let me know in the comments below.
Ingredients:
Water, put some in a pot
Some broken up old hard bread (not growing anything..)
Salt, ~1 -2 tbsp (I had a medium-sized pot
Olive Oil, ~1 tbsp (Butter would do well to but will alter the flavor/texture a bit)
If you have bread that has been seasoned with some herbs or whatever you don't need anything else. Really!
Instructions:
Put the water and salt in a pan and stir.
Taste to your desired level of saltiness. Just below what you like is optimal if your seasoned bread has a bit of saltiness
When liquid is almost boiling toss in the oil and throw the bread in and wait for it to soften.
Serve Immediately.
I also added some Parmesan cheese, a couple of Bay Leaves, and some fried shallots for extra flavor, at the same time as my salt.
Some Notes:
Zuppa di Pane Cotto is a VERY frugal Italian soup originating in any number of Italian cities. Bread was (is?) something not to be wasted and even when unusable for other things makes a wonderful soup
My original recipe inspiration was from this About.com food article. The article has a brief bit of history on some aspects of frugal Italian cuisine.
Further searching turned up this goldmine article from a Splendid Table article on imrov soups. This article has some of the best basic soup info I have found in one location. It's where I got the inspiration to add the cheese..
Anyway, I hope you enjoy my recipe and the extra info.. Any other good, frugal recipes? Let me know in the comments below.
I have to say that this was very good and quite a creative way to use hard bread.
ReplyDeleteVery good.
ReplyDelete