Wise Up to Waste

WHAT TO DO WITH LEFTOVER BREAD

Commercially made bread products like buns, rolls, sweet brioche and fruit breads, usually stay fresh for around a week. Freshly home-baked items or those from a bakery or supermarket will only last a day or two before starting to go stale. Keep bakery products wrapped tightly, ideally avoiding plastic (try reusable beeswax wraps or a paper bag) and keep at room temperature. When bread gets too hard to enjoy, make toast or try these solutions. *Some commercial breads can go mouldy quickly, avoid eating mouldy bread! 1. Sweet or Savoury Bread Pudding: A classic! Use any leftover or stale bread. Savoury pudding makes a great side dish. Leftover, cooked vegetables can be added to savoury puddings, or dried fruit and nuts for sweet puddings, be creative! Soak dried fruit like raisins in cold tea for a couple of hours to plump up. Use any bread pudding recipe, but for a richer pudding use more egg yolks and add cream with the milk in the ‘custard’. 2. Croutons: Seasoned croutons are simple to make at home. Cut stale bread into ½ to ¾ inch (1 to 2 cm) cubes, place in a bowl and drizzle with oil of your preference, season with your favourite herbs and spices, grated hard cheese like Parmesan is delicious. Bake in the oven at 400°F (200°C) oven, for 6-8 minutes, agitate the pan 2/3 times during baking, until croutons are crisp and golden. Sprinkle on salads and soups.

CBSA is a charity registered in England and Wales No: 1188969 3. Mini Pizza Toast: Leftover buns especially breads made with olive oil like ciabatta or harder breads like sourdough make tasty pizza crusts. Top with your choice of toppings or make a Catalan style bruschetta by toasting or oven baking the bread, rub a clove of raw garlic onto the toasted bread (as much or little as you prefer), then rub half a cherry tomato into the toast and drizzle some olive oil. For a classic bruschetta, rub toast with garlic then top with juicy chopped tomatoes, fresh basil and a drizzle of oil (you can brush with oil prior to cooking as well, whichever method you prefer). 4. Make Breadcrumbs: This is an economical way to use up leftover bread. In a blender or food processor, grind up stale cubed bread, the breadcrumbs can be frozen too. Use soft bread for fluffy, fresh crumbs or harder stale bread to make dry crumbs. Add to burgers, meatballs and meatloaf, season with your favourite herbs and spices. Use to coat fried or baked chicken, veal or pork cutlets, or fish fillets. Homemade crumbs are an excellent substitute for panko crumbs but will be slightly less crisp. 5. Grill and Dip: Before you turn off the barbecue, grill leftover bread to serve with dips and spreads. The smoky flavour and crunchy texture are especially good with veggie dips and hummus etc. 7. Bake a Strata: Try this easy egg and bread dish instead of a quiche or frittata. Strata tastes best when made the night before so the flavours have time to incorporate. In the morning, it just needs a quick bake to be ready. Once you’ve mastered the recipe, get creative with different veggies, meats or cheeses you have on hand. 6. Stuffing & Nut Roast: Stuffing isn’t just for Sunday roasts and Christmas Day Lunch. It’s easy to make, so dress up a simple Sunday dinner, like roast chicken? Stuffed vegetables are another delicious way to add more stuffing to your meals, use what you have free in your fridge. Portobello Mushrooms, courgette/marrow, aubergine, large tomatoes or any other vegetables will work. For nut roast, add your preferred combination of nuts to breadcrumbs and an egg to bind the ingredients. Additional recipes: You can make many other things with leftover bread, and there are lots of recipes on the internet, some great examples are Summer Pudding, Poor Man’s Omelette, French Toast, and a great Italian salad called Panzanella. Cut a whole loaf of bread in half and scoop out the centre to form two bread bowls, then use this shell of the loaf as a bowl for curries and stews, or picnic items such as coleslaw.

TIP: Any type of bread, including gluten-free will work just as well if prepared the same way, so don’t worry if you don’t have exactly what’s called for in the recipe, use what you have.