Croutons for Soup

My mom would serve these on the table to add to the chicken broth with escarole (but without rice) and little meatballs. Throw them in and enjoy. My mom and I got into a lot of fights as I would snarf the croutons from the counter before the soup was served, leaving fewer for our guests.

The croutons are best cooked in lard (yes, animal fat). I use leaf lard, which is not made from leaves – they just call it that. The lard gives the croutons their taste and crispness. Any other cooking fat will produce something that doesn’t resemble what was intended, so please do not substitute the first time you make this.

I used to think that lard was horrible for your health. Certainly, it sounds disgusting. But let’s study the nutritional facts of five kinds of cooking fats. Strictly based on the numbers, leaf lard is better than butter and has twice as much monounsaturated fat as vegetable shortening or vegetable oil. Of course, you can’t beat extra-virgin olive oil.

	Leaf Lard	Butter	Vegetable Shortening	Vegetable Oil	Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Calories	120	120	120	120	120
Total Fat	13 g	13 g	13 g	14 g	14 g
Saturated Fat	5 g	8 g	4 g	2 g	2 g
Trans Fat	0 g	0 g	0 g	0 g	0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat	1.5 g	0 g	7.2 g	8 g	2 g
Monounsaturated Fat	6 g	4 g	3 g	3 g	10 g
Cholesterol	10 mg	36 mg	0 mg	0 mg	0 mg

1-day-old loaf of Italian bread, such as pane artigianale

3 Tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour

5 large eggs

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 lb (leaf) lard

1. Cut up the Italian bread into 3/4-inch cubes and place in wide baking dish.

2. Sprinkle flour over the bread cubes and mix to coat well. (At this point, you can either leave the coated cubes out another day to stale further or continue to prepare.)

3. Place baking dish in oven preheated to 350°F and toast cubes just long enough to dry them out, typically about 10 minutes. DO NOT BROWN THE BREAD CUBES!

4. Beat together eggs and pepper, and pour over the toasted cubes. Mix well.

5. Melt lard in large frying pan.

6. Fry half the bread cubes in the frying pan, separating cubes as needed. Fry to medium brown or darker. 

7. Remove with slotted spoon to drain in colander. Store in container.

8. Repeat steps 6-7 for the remaining bread cubes.

Make ahead: These croutons can be refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before serving.