Sourdough croutons – and what to do with leftover sourdough

Never, never throw away the ends of your sourdough loaf! There’s always something you can do with the almost-stale bits.

Mind you, it never gets a chance to go stale in our house, especially as by using wild yeast and good quality flour, sourdough loaves will keep longer than any other loaf you make yourself (or buy from a bakery).

My other ideas on how to use up those ends of sourdough are:

• French toast
• Cinnamon toast
• Bruschetta
• Garlic bread slices
• Made into breadcrumbs for stuffings
• Made into breadcrumbs for gratin toppings, eg for cauliflower cheese, pasta bakes etc

If all else fails and you really think it’s past it, at least leave it out for the birds in your garden! Just don’t go near that bin with it 🙂

Equipment

• Sharp knife
• Slotted spoon
• Large non-stick frying pan
• A couple of wooden spatulas
• Large-ish bowl lined with a sheet of kitchen paper

Ingredients

• 2 or 3 slices (ends) of sourdough
• Anchovy fillets – 3 or 4
• Smoked back or streaky bacon or pancetta – two slices, cut into fine strips
• Shallot, finely diced – 1
• Garlic cloves, finely diced – 2
• Sea salt, freshly ground to taste
• Black pepper, freshly ground to taste
• Fresh parsley, a small bunch chopped or torn finely to decorate
• Olive oil or rapeseed oil for frying

Method

1. Heat a little oil over a low-medium heat and gently fry the shallots and garlic until see-through (do not over cook)
2. Remove the shallots and garlic with a slotted spoon and set to one side (the reason we cook them separately is so they do not overcook/burn)
3. Turn up the heat and fry off the bacon until almost crispy – just before the bacon starts to crisp up, finely chop the anchovies and through them in the pan with the bacon
4. When it’s all nicely browned and caramelised (ie when the Maillard reaction has occurred) remove with the slotted spoon and place with the shallots/garlic
5. Slice up the sourdough into 1 cm cubes or 1 cm wide strips that are about 3 cm long (I like to do this as it looks a little different than typical croutons)
6. You may need to now add some more oil to the pan – you need a thin coating covering the base
7. Turn up the heat to about 3/4 of it’s full setting
8. Test the oil temperature by chucking in a small piece of sourdough – it should start sizzling
9. If the oil is hot enough, tip in all the sourdough pieces and keep them moving as they fry
10. You may find it easier to use two wooden spoons, one in each hand, to sort of ‘flip’ the croutons between them to make sure they cook on all sides evenly
11. When the croutons are nicely browned and crisp, take them off the heat and tip them into a bowl lined with a sheet of kitchen paper to catch the excess oil
12. Remove the kitchen paper and grind the salt and pepper over the croutons.
13. Now toss the croutons with the garlic, shallots, bacon and anchovies
14. Sprinkle on the chopped parsley

A great accompaniment/topping to any pastas, soups or salads

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