Garlic parmesan croutons

Crunchy, crispy and packed full of favour croutons make everything they’re added to so much better. Add a little parmesan and garlic and you have a true superstar garnish.

If you have an old loaf of bread, don’t go throwing it out. Within short time and with little effort you can have a bowlful of delicious croutons ready to throw into a salad or garnish a steaming bowl of soup.

I tend to do croutons one of two ways depending on what I’m going to use them for. Roasted, as in the recipe below, gives a crunchy drier finish perfect for serving with soups and soaking up anything liquid. Frying, while still crispy leaves a soft melt-in-the-mouth interior and works brilliantly with salads or just on its own.

Adding garlic and parmesan add so much punch to the croutons, complementing so many different soups. The photos here are with leek & potato but they go just as well with a creamy tomato soup.

what you’ll need

Equipment: roasting dish, oven, cheese grater.

INGREDIENTS

garlic parmesan croutons:

• 150g (sourdough) bread, sliced into cubes – a couple of days old is best
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and cut in half
• 25g olive oil
• 20g grated parmesan, grated
• salt
• pepper

METHOD

Preheat your oven to 200C.

Rub your roasting dish all over with the garlic halves.

Throw in your bread and the garlic halves. Drizzle over your oil. Stir to coat the bread.

Scatter your parmesan over the top and season well. Mix again.

Put your dish into your hot oven and roast for 10 – 15 minutes or until golden. Toss every 5 minutes or so.

Serve immediately or leave to cool and then cover with clingfilm. They will last for a couple of days – if you can resist that long!

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