Recipe: Italian-Seasoned Breadcrumbs

In the past, I’ve talked about how to make basic, simple, easy and versatile GF breadcrumbs by taking any stale leftover GF bread and pulsing it in the food processor to make crumbs. (We’ve used everything ranging from stale GF yeast bread, to leftover pancakes, waffles, and even arepas.) But sometimes, such as when I’m making my Italian meatballs, I want a breadcrumb that’s a little more specific to the job at hand. When that’s the case, I turn to Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs, and this is how I make ’em:

1. Start with 4-6 slices of fresh, whole-grain GF yeast bread. Toast them in a toaster oven just until they are light to medium golden.
2. Break the toast into pieces, add it all to a food processor, and pulse until you have coarse breadcrumbs.
3. Spread the breadcrumbs into a relatively thin layer across the bottom of a baking pan/sheet. Then sprinkle the breadcrumbs with a light coating of salt, garlic powder, dried basil, and dried oregano. (Don’t overdo it… you can always add more spice later if the breadcrumbs are too bland initially.)
4. Place the baking pan/sheet back in the toaster oven and toast a second time. The goal is to dry out the bread and make it just slightly crispy. You don’t want the breadcrumbs to darken or harden too much, or to taste burned.
5. At this point, you have two options. For a coarser breadcrumb, simply toss the breadcrumbs as-is to separate any clumps that have stuck together, and you’re ready to go. For a finer breadcrumb, return the breadcrumbs to the food processor and pulse for a second round, resulting in a finer crumb. (If pulsing a second time, make sure your food processor is completely dry, with no residual moisture from the first round of pulsing.)

Voila! Delicious and easy Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs that are great for meatballs, chicken cutlets, eggplant, you name it!

– Pete