Confessions of an oaf with a loaf..

crostini

I've been keeping a secret. Last week, for the first time in my life, I officially made Panzanella. It was a resounding success. I had found myself a great loaf of day old bread at a reduced price that worked perfectly in the salad. But the secret that I've kept until now, is what happened afterwards.

The Panzanella had been a godsend. I had managed to use up my leftover asparagus, as well as some extra tomatoes and olives. It left me feeling like some sort of culinary goddess who never lets anything go to waste, and knows just how to use every last bit of random vegetable to be found in her crisper.

But it was all a lie. Though my crisper was empty, there stood, on my counter, a now 2 day old loaf of bread, with barely a quarter of it eaten. It's true, I had barely made a dent in it. I was indeed perplexed. I mean, this was 2-day old bread. Granted it only cost me a Euro, but that's beside the point. I hate to throw things out without at least giving it some thought. And as the days went on that loaf kept waiting for me. Friday, then Saturday.

As luck would have it, by Sunday I was craving Panzanella again. Problem solved, I thought. This time I used tomatoes, cucumbers, olives and bocconcini. I was already an old pro with this salad. But as I got ready to dig in, I saw it out of the corner of my eye. The loaf. There was still half of it left. I gave a great sigh, and wondered if this would be the end of the road for this loaf that had been so good to me on my Panzanella adventures.

With a last bit of hope, I took it back out of it's clear plastic bag and let it sit out, exposed to the elements of my apartment, to dry. Breadcrumbs, I told myself. I'll make breadcrumbs with it. But in the back of my mind I knew that I rarely cook anything that requires breadcrumbs. And truthfully, I made breadcrumbs with the last baguette we had that got stale before we could eat it. Breadcrumbs that will likely never be used. Another sigh.

On Monday morning, I woke up to this loaf. Now quite hard and stale but still managing to look appealing somehow. Monday evening, it struck me. Crostini.

I ran to the kitchen, took the loaf and sliced it thinly. I brushed one side of each slice with olive oil, and with an enthusiastic movement, gave each a sprinkle of salt. They went into the oven on a baking sheet for about 15 minutes at 200 celcius.

Like magic. My own homemade melba toast of sorts. But better. And I knew that these would keep for a few days in an airtight container, giving me access to a slice of crunchy crostini whenever the urge struck me. And now I have 2 reasons to lurk around the day old bin at the bakery.

Crostini notes
The crostini gets quite crunchy, so it is best to keep it thinly sliced.
You can put any number of toppings on it, here are a few ideas:
cream cheese and smoked salmon
cream cheese and cucumbers (one of my favourite combinations)
bruschetta topping -tomatoes with olive oil and garlic
black olive tapenade
goat cheese and prosciutto
even peanut butter! yes, another of my secrets is out. I love peanut butter and bananas together.

Of course there are a million other things you can do..