(My Easy Bread)
One of the consequences of there only being two of us in this house and eating most of the time is the fact that we have a difficult time using up a loaf of bread before it goes stale. I really like good bread and a good loaf of bread can be somewhat expensive, so I don't like for any of it to go to waste. It only makes sense to have a few things up your sleeves that you can do with it . . . like bread pudding and such. I hate waste, don't you?
This is a cookery book I have had for a while, by Tamasin Day-Lewis. It's a jewel. It's filled with lots of lovely recipes for dishes that are not only economical but also delicious. Recipes such as this Bread Soup, which she admits to originally pinching from Anna Del Conte.
I love cooking and the beautiful chemistry that happens when you throw ingredients together. Sometimes it is so amazing. Who would ever think that with a few ingredients such as olive oil, stale bread, chicken stock, garlic, parsley, chilli flakes and some seasoning you could end up with a delicious soup???
And that is exactly what this is . . . a magically delicious soup! Made from simple ingredients, put together in a simple manner. Of course it stands to reason that if you are only going to be using a few ingredients, you will want them to be the best you have. Use a good sturdy loaf of bread, a crusty country loaf, several days old.
A good chicken stock, well flavoured. Homemade is good, but if you don't have that, a good quality store bought one works well also.
The best extra virgin olive oil your money can buy. It matters.
Fresh parsley and fresh garlic. Sea salt, freshly ground black pepper. A good cheese for grating.
Something very magical happens. Trust me on this. It's absolutely gorgeous! A new favourite! Simple. Easy. Delicious and Quick!
*Bread Soup*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe
The most delicious soup from nothing but stock, bread crumbs and a bit of garlic, parsley and seasoning. Oh, I do love recipes such as this which help to celebrate simple ingredients and methods in a most delicious way. I believe in Italy this is called Pancotto. You will want to use a good quality rustic styled bread loaf for this, preferably a couple of days old.
4 thick slices of stale country style bread, good quality, crusts removed5 TBS EXTRA virgin olive oil (not the cheap every day use one)1/2 tsp dried crushed chilies3 dloves of garlic, peeled and crusheda small handful of finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley, about 2 TBS1 1/2 litres of hot chicken stock (a scant 6 1/2 cups)fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste freshly grated Pecorino cheese to serve
Crumble your bread into bits and then blitz them in a food processor for a couple of seconds, until you get a coarse crumb. Heat the olive oil, dried chilies, garlic and parsley in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Saute for about 30 seconds until you can smell the garlic. Tip in the bread and cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 4 minutes, until the bread begins to turn golden brown. Add the hot stock. Cover and simmer for half an hour.
Taste the soup and adjust seasonings as necessary. Serve ladled out into hot soup bowls with lashings of grated Pecorino cheese on top.
