Pasta with Crispy Bread Crumbs, Anchovies, and Garlic

Homemade bread crumbs slipped into our dinner regimen slowly, appearing on our salads to start, the kale caesars in particular, quietly replacing croutons altogether.

But shortly after their introduction, perhaps encouraged by their warm reception, they made haste, and soon began garnishing our pastas, mingling with our roasted vegetables, delicately topping our fish fillets. These days they’ve gotten completely brazen, sometimes accompanying every item on the plate. I don’t know when this trend will fizzle, but I’m liking it very much at the moment.

The inspiration to start whizzing my stale bread in the food processor, storing the crumbs in the freezer, and toasting them in a skillet with olive oil at the dinner hour, came from two sources: a great chef interview on the kitchn in early November and the editor’s letter in this month’s bon appètit, which offered tips on how to be a better cook from seven renowned chefs around the world including Mario Batali who admits that “there’s almost nothing [he] wouldn’t put homemade bread crumbs on.”

I’m starting to share this sentiment. These crunchy, salted, olive-oil toasted bits are truly addictive.

What’s best about this recent addition to the pantry is that it makes use of an ingredient that often was destined for the trash. Now, stale bread never goes to waste. At the first sign of its aging, into the food processor it goes, and from there, into the freezer it gets stashed.

What’s more, just when I think I have nothing to serve for dinner, toasted bread crumbs along with a few pantry items — garlic, crushed red pepper flakes and anchovies — come to the rescue, working together to produce an unbelievably tasty dinner.

This pasta dish, inspired by a recipe in Batali’s Molto Italiano can be spruced up with caramelized onions, if you feel like making them, or sautéed greens, if you have them, but if you don’t, don’t fret. I promise that with just four ingredients, a delectable dinner will materialize. This is pantry cooking at its finest — quick, easy, delicious.

Never let stale bread go to waste again: tear it up; throw it in the food processor; pulse until fine; store the crumbs in an air tight container or ziplock bag in the freezer for months.

When you’re ready to toast your bread crumbs to add to pasta, salad, roasted vegetables, etc: heat about 1.5 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat; sprinkle in about a cup of bread crumbs; season with a pinch of salt; stir until golden; remove from heat until ready to use.

With these four ingredients on hand, you have the makings of an unbelievable pasta dish.

I love a citrus vinaigrette this time of year:

I have always loved the Chez Panisse Vegetables technique for making salad dressings, which often starts with macerating shallots in citrus juice or vinegar. This is what I have been doing lately:

Finely dice a shallot or two. Place in a bowl and cover with the juice of one orange. Add 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar. Season with a pinch of kosher salt and a pinch of sugar. Let macerate for 15 minutes, if you have the time, or less, if you don’t. Whisk in about 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil. It’s ok if the dressing is not totally emulsified. Just give it a stir when you’re ready to use it and spoon it, making sure to scoop out some of those delicious shallots, over your greens in a large salad bowl when you’re ready to toss them with those irresistible toasted bread crumbs.

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