We had a couple of composer friends for lunch a while ago and the salad course was a Caesar, but just for a change I decided to make my own croutons and added pesto sauce.
They must have been successful as one of our friends who doesn’t usually like croutons loved them and recently asked me for the recipe.
1 loaf of ciabatta bread, chopped into chunks for the croutons. I leave the crusts on.
1 cup good pesto sauce, either homemade or commercial.
1/2 cup good extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic (at least) crushed
1 handful finely chopped fresh basil, if the pesto is commercial.
salt and pepper.
In a large bowl, add the pesto sauce, garlic, olive oil, basil, salt and pepper. Stir well and add more olive oil if it’s too thick.
Throw the bread chunks into the bowl and toss well.
Lay out croutons onto a large shallow baking tray and roast at 350 F for about 20 to 30 minutes until golden brown.
Watch incase they burn though.
Remove from the oven and cool.
Serve if you haven’t already eaten them all!