In our cookbook, which you can buy here, I have a recipe for 'Wedding Guest Croutons' - theory being that the perfect crouton should be like the perfect wedding guest: Immaculately behaved and never overshadowing the real stars of the show ( - the bride, the mother-of-the-bride, the flower girls and the SALAD or the PASTA ON WHICH IT SITS). Phew!
Being low-key obsessed with croutons, I had to share this recipe for Anchovy Croutons which I'm making ALL THE TIME.
ANCHOVY CROUTONS
1/2 loaf of sliced, good-quality sourdough bread, stale is ok
1/3 cup olive oil
100g jar or tin of anchovies, including the oil
METHOD
Combine the oil with the anchovies in a tiny saucepan. Meanwhile warm the oven to 140C and prepare a couple of baking sheets.
When the anchovies start to \"melt\", encourage their disintegration with a wooden spoon until they form a muddy riverbed silt.
Lightly brush this mixture over one side of each piece of sourdough bread until it's all used up.
Cut the bread into cubes. (I like mine slightly bigger than 1cm but don't overthink it. Just cut.)
Mop up any leftover anchovy mixture with cubes of bread then spread them over the 2 baking sheets, and bake for 10 - 15 mins.
Turn them well, bringing to corner croutons into the middle of the pan and rotating the middle-pan ones out to the edges.
Cook for another 15 until the croutons are smelling toasty, changing colour to golden, and are crunchy when you try them.
Allow them to cool before storing in an airtight jar.
Serve on salad, with burrata, or atop a red spaghetti.