What can you do with stale bread?

Fresh bread is a pleasure. Stale bread is an opportunity. Good dry bread has a structure that soaks up oil, tomato juices and broth without dissolving into mush, which is exactly why Italian kitchens never treated it as waste.

The Italian logic

The spirit of cucina povera is to waste nothing, and bread is the clearest example: whole dishes are built around it. Tuscany is the classic example. The regional tourism board, Visit Tuscany, describes Tuscan bread as saltless and that pappa al pomodoro, ribollita and panzanella all rely on it once it has gone stale.

You don't need Tuscan bread to cook these dishes. A good country loaf, sourdough or ciabatta with an open crumb and a proper crust works. Soft sliced bread is less suited; it collapses rather than soaks.

Panzanella

A summer bread salad: chunks of stale bread with ripe tomatoes, red onion, basil, plenty of olive oil and a splash of vinegar. What we do:

• Tear the bread into rough pieces.
• Salt chopped tomatoes first and let them sit, so they release their juices.
• Toss the bread with the tomatoes, juices, oil and vinegar and let it rest until the bread has softened but still has some chew.
• Add cucumber, capers or olives if you like.

Newer versions toast the bread first for more crunch. Both are legitimate; it depends whether you like your panzanella soft or crisp.

Pappa al pomodoro

A thick tomato and bread soup. Garlic softened in olive oil, tomatoes (tinned are perfect outside summer), torn stale bread and a little water or stock, simmered and stirred until it becomes a rich, spoonable porridge. Finish with lots of basil and raw olive oil. Good warm or at room temperature, and better the next day.

Ribollita

The Tuscan winter soup: beans, black cabbage (cavolo nero), and vegetables, thickened with stale bread. Visit Tuscany notes that the name refers to being boiled several times, and that it tastes even better the next day. A generous pour of peppery olive oil on top is non-negotiable.

Croutons

Cut or tear bread into chunks, toss with olive oil and salt, and toast in a hot oven or a frying pan until golden and crisp. Add garlic, rosemary or chilli to the oil if you like. Torn croutons have more craggy edges and catch more oil than neat cubes. Scatter on soups and salads.

Breadcrumbs

Toasted breadcrumbs (pangrattato) are one of the great Italian kitchen tricks. Blitz or grate stale bread into rough crumbs, fry in olive oil with garlic, chilli and lemon zest until golden and crisp, and salt. Then:

• Scatter over pasta for crunch. Pasta with greens, garlic and pangrattato is a classic.
• Top roast vegetables or a bowl of beans.
• Use instead of cheese on pasta when you want something lighter.

Dry breadcrumbs keep well in a jar; it is worth making a batch whenever bread starts to go hard.

Other good ideas

• Bruschetta: toast slices, rub with garlic, drizzle with oil, top with tomatoes or beans.
• Bread pudding, sweet or savoury.
• Fried bread: slices dipped in egg and fried, savoury with cheese or sweet with sugar and cinnamon.
• Thickening: a handful of torn bread in a soup or a tomato sauce gives body.