Poor man’s parmesan it’s called but eating it, I feel anything but poor.
crunch, crunch, crunch….
Like any good peasant food, it’s cheap, frugal, uses up what’s available and is rather versatile in jazzing up the most basic of meals.
crunch, crunch, crunch….
You can team it up with what ever you have on hand, looking good at your local farmers market, or getting flaccid in your fridge.. For me, it’s usually some seasonal green vegetables and maybe a little fetta to bump up the protein. (The pictured one was zucchini, peas, and leek.)
Really the possibilities are endless. Just the thing for Frugal Friday.
Pangritata
In a frying pan add some
Stale bread crumbs (I use the ends of my sourdough loaves, and pulse them in a blender until crumb like.)
Add a couple of slugs of olive oil
a clove of crushed local garlic
zest of an organic lemon
some finely chopped fresh chilli
and some salt and pepper to taste.
Lightly fry it up until golden, (or alternatively bake it on a tray if you have the space in your oven while cooking something else.)
I make a whole big batch and just keep it in the fridge. No idea how long it keeps as it never lasts that long round these parts.
Give it a crack.
cityhippyfarmgirl 
Your little croutons (or crumbs) must be full of wonderful flavour and yes, they would certainly bring crunch to any dish. Love the look of your plated dish xx
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Yum yum yum…that’s what I want, Brydie! What did you do with the grated zucchini?
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Nothing crazy Celia. A little olive oil, grated zucchini, leek and some frozen peas cooked up with a little stock, and then mixed though the pasta. I did a similar one again last night but with added kale. Green is good! 🙂
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I really enjoy reading your food posts. Your food philosophy is similar to mine. Thanks! Erin x
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Just the thing Brydie. I love textures and this fixes the texture every time. So delicious…
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Tanya I was a bit slow to the texture party but have made up for it in recent years. It’s all about the balance of textures now 🙂
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Perfect for finishing off any dish indeed- yummo!
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yum..some crunchin’s coming my way thanks to you! x
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I knew there was a reason I saved the end of my last loaf. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
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I have some dried sourdough breadcrumbs that will be perfect for this! Cheers for a fantastic frugal recipe 🙂
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I can’t wait to try it.
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Sounds really good….I like a bit of crunch crunch crunch. I wouldn’t mind seeing the recipe for the pasta dish you made (hint hint) — it looks good.
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See my comment under Celia’s Miss Piggy.
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I’d never heard of this but I’d definitely like it more than Parmesan! (Not that that’s too hard, but still…) Thanks for introducing me to the pangritata possibilities 🙂
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Duh! I hadn’t even thought of it being a vegan version.
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Over here (in the US) we tend to completely forget about using bread crumbs as an ingredient in dishes – and to use them as an element for creating a new dish out of other leftovers is clever and creative – Nice one.
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Brilliant. I always have a crust left over, that’s such a great way to make use of it! Thanks a lot, going to try this asap 🙂
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What a great looking meal!
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