This is a garnish that I came up with to serve as a thickener for my Tuscan White Bean soup. Traditionally the bread is put into the soup and used as a thickener, but to make it better for a restaurant setting, I decided to keep them separate to enhance the appearance.
Though I cut these large for appearance, you can cut them into a smaller bits and use them as salad croutons as well.
One thing to keep in mind with croutons is that they turn out better when you cook them at a lower temperature for a longer period of time. Around 185 degrees, stirring them every 20-30 minutes until they get golden brown and crispy.
Another item to note, is that normally when I make croutons, I use blended oil with butter as the vehicle to coast and season the bread. With these, I used extra virgin olive oil. It gives you a different flavor for the final product, and less... buttery or rich.
Ingredients (the amounts will vary depending on loaf size)
Loaf of bread (any suitable for cubing) 1 ea
Salt & Pepper to taste
Extra Virgin Olive Oil 2 cups (enough to coat)
Oregano, finely chopped 2 oz
Basil, finely chopped 2 oz
Chives, finely chopped 2 oz
Parsley, finely chopped 2 oz
Aleppo pepper 1 tsp (you can sub crushed red pepper)
Garlic powder 1 T
Onion powder 1 T
Parmesan, finely shredded 3 oz
Pancetta 2 oz
Method of Procedure
Preheat your oven to 185 degrees.
Place all ingredients except bread, Parmesan, and pancetta into a sauce pan and heat to infuse the oil. Adjust the seasoning according to your tastes.
Cube your bread and place into a mixing bowl.
Pour half of the infused oil onto the bread and mix. Pour the rest and make sure it's evenly coated. The idea is that all of the croutons have a light oil coating, you don't want to soak them, but get a nice sheen around them all*.
Put the Parmesan on top of the croutons and mix until evenly coated.
Place the croutons on a sheet tray and bake for around 1 1/2-2 hours**
While you are baking the croutons, place the pancetta onto another sheet tray and bake with the croutons, until the pancetta has become crispy. This is about 1 hour.
Chop or use a food processor and turn the crispy pancetta into powder.
When the croutons are done, remove from the sheet tray and place into a mixing bowl. Toss with pancetta.
*Please keep in mind the amount of all the ingredient vary depending on the size of bread loaf you are using. For this recipe I used a loaf of Italian bread from the bakery at Safeway.
**The cook time changes based upon the size of cuts of the croutons. The larger the crouton the longer the cook time, if you make smaller salad croutons, they will be done in less time.
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