I can’t take too much credit for this. These were the components leftover in my fridge.
2 cups Marcella beans and some of their liquid
1 1/2 cups broth from making wild rice
1 roasted red pepper
1/2 cup chopped broccoli rabe (rapini) that had been tossed in olive oil and then pan roasted
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
drizzles of lemon juice and olive oil
rye bread crutons from stale bread that had been dried in the oven
The beans were about to “go” (if you know what I mean and I think you do) so I pureed them with the wild rice broth and red pepper. Then I heated them through with the broccoli rabe, tomato paste and Wooster sauce. I placed the stale bread croutons in the bottom of each bowl and then poured the very got sauce on top. Drizzles of lemon juice and olive oil were the icing on the cake.
For me, this was so delicious but the best part is that these were all ingredients sitting around. I used to toss stale bread loaves but not anymore. I rip them apart into bite-sized pieces and then lay them on a rack to dry. My old Wedgewood stove has a pilot light and is perfect for this but I think any dry place would work.
So glad you saw the light on stale bread! There are so many great recipes around that originated to use it – garlic soup is my favorite, but stale bread works with a lot of different soups. Then there’s bread salad, bread stuffing, bread pudding….
Stale bread brings back childhood memories. Growing up in an Italian household there was always Italian bread. If it wasn’t eaten within 2 days it was hard as a rock! That’s when hunks of it would land in the bottom of a bowl with bean soup poured over the top. Hated it as a kid, love it as an adult!