Breadcrumbs with Pancetta
From old to sensational: transforming an old ciabatta into sensational crispy homemade breadcrumbs with pancetta flavor! Great for sprinkling on salads or baked/sautéed vegetables.
Ingredients
100 g pancetta (I used unsmoked)
150-200 g bread a few days old
salt, black pepper
Calories: 980 cal (with 200 g bread); 73.5 cal / tablespoon
How to prepare breadcrumbs with pancetta
- Grind the bread cut into pieces in a food processor until fine.
- Put the pancetta in the food processor and grind until as fine as possible, and if the processor can, until it looks pasty.
- Put the resulting paste in a large unheated pan. Place on low heat and leave until all the fat melts (takes about 3-4 minutes). Don't brown the small pancetta pieces visible in the pan yet.
- Remove all the pancetta pieces from the fat with a slotted spatula and press to drain the fat.
- You should have about 4 tablespoons of fat left in the pan. If it seems less, add quality olive oil.
- Add the ground bread to the fat in the pan and mix to coat evenly. Taste for salt (pancetta can be salty sometimes) and add more if needed. Grind 20 grinds of black pepper. Mix well.
- Spread the breadcrumbs evenly on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- Put the tray in the oven at 170C (340F) and let the breadcrumbs toast for 7 minutes.
- Add the pancetta pieces over the breadcrumbs, mix, and bake for another 5-6 minutes. The breadcrumbs should be nicely browned and crispy, but watch them in the last minutes so they don't burn. The pancetta pieces will also brown.
