To make these surprisingly useful breadcrumbs, whizz up a bit of stale bread (fresh is good too) until you achieve the consistency you’re after…
Breadcrumbs, I’m guessing, are finer; croutons chunkier
If you are after a garlicky crouton or breadcrumb, whizz a clove up with the breadcrumbs
Put a frying pan on – no oil – and when it is hot, add your breadcrumbs/croutons
Definitely keep stirring, and don’t leave them! If they burn (and they will burn really quickly) they’ll be ruined. Locatelli talks about cooking them in the pan until they go the brown of a friar’s cassock (maybe, not sure if I have remembered this right) which I think is pretty dark brown… In my experience, if you wait until they are all this colour, some will have already burnt. If you wait until some start going quite dark brown, and then quickly tip them out of the pan and into a bowl – they’ll be delicious
(So delicious that a lot of them go missing just after cooking. According to my husband, they’re as good as crisps, which is why they don’t last long in the kitchen in a bowl.)
We use these in recipes like stuffed peppers, tomatoes or mushrooms; with all sorts of pastas and risottos; sprinkled over salads; baked with fish or meat; to coat fritters in… the list is endless (and tasty)