I've been keeping our stale sourdough bread in a cloth bag in anticipation of making pangrattatto, "an Italian garnish of bread crumbs that have been toasted in olive oil and seasoned with the likes of garlic, herbs and sometimes anchovies or chile flakes (or both). A specialty of Southern Italy, it’s dusted over pasta in place of the more costly grated cheese"
Below is the NYT recipe for pasta with pangrattatto filed under Spaghetti with Garlicky Bread Crumbs and Anchovies
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016264-spaghetti-with-garlicky-bread-crumbs-and-anchovies To make bread crumbs for the recipe, I just threw our stale sourdough bread into the food processor with the grating wheel. We loved the dish, but the flavors are bold and spicy. If you like Pasta Puttanesca, give this a try, the nyt recipe is below:
⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil, more as needed
12 anchovies, chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 cup good dried bread crumbs
Black pepper and kosher salt, as needed
1 pound spaghetti
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce (optional)
1 teaspoon hot sauce, such as Tabasco, or to taste
½ cup roughly chopped parsley
Lemon wedges, for serving
step 1
In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, warm oil. Add anchovies, garlic and red pepper flakes; cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Stir in bread crumbs and cook until golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Season liberally with black pepper, and a little salt if needed.
step 2
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add spaghetti and cook according to package instructions; drain well, reserving some of the pasta water (about 1/2 cup is plenty).
step 3
In a large, preferably warmed bowl, stir together egg yolks, fish sauce, hot sauce and 2 tablespoons pasta water. Add hot pasta and toss well, adding more pasta water if the mixture looks dry or unevenly yellow. You want the yolk to evenly coat the pasta but you don’t want it to be soupy.
step 4
Add bread crumb mixture and parsley and toss well. Season with plenty of black pepper, and salt to taste. Drizzle pasta with more oil just before serving and serve with lemon wedges.
