It’s no use crying over spilled milk – or stale bread, for that matter! Here are two tasty ways to make great use of baked goodness that’s past its best before date and stop it from going to waste.

Images and text from Baker Bleu by Mike Russell, photography by Parker Blain. Murdoch Books RRP $49.99.

Panzanella

Serves 4 as a side

Panzanella could almost be called a baker’s salad – it takes your hard work baking a beautiful rustic loaf and showcases it, even when the bread might be past its prime. This recipe is made extra summery with the addition of ripe nectarines. To showcase the jumble of colours and textures in this salad, it’s best to use a big serving plate, rather than a deep bowl.

INGREDIENTS

4 slices day-old country loaf (or dark rye), 2 cm thick

Olive oil, for drizzling

3 ripe heirloom tomatoes

3 ripe nectarines (optional; they need to be in peak season)

Pinch of pink salt

100 ml extra virgin

Olive oil (the highest quality you can afford)

1/3 cup (80 ml) white balsamic vinegar (alternatively, white wine vinegar)

1 Tbsp honey

1 bunch of basil, leaves picked

1 tin Ortiz anchovies

METHOD

Heat a chargrill pan or an oven grill to high. Drizzle the bread liberally with olive oil and then grill it, turning once, for up to 1 minute a side until the bread is crisp but not burnt, with visible grill marks. Once it’s cool enough to handle, break up each slice into bite-sized chunks over your serving plate.

Cut each tomato in half and place cut-side down on the chopping board, then cut the tomatoes into uneven segments (all the rough edges are going to accelerate the almalgamation of flavours). Scrape them, along with all their juices, onto the plate.

Halve the nectarines, remove the stones, then cut the fruit lengthways into wedges. Scrape them and their juices onto the serving plate, too, then sprinkle everything with the pink salt.

Combine the extra-virgin olive oil, vinegar and honey in the bowl of a food processor, add most of the basil leaves (reserve some for garnish), and blitz to make a dressing. Avoid making this more than an hour before serving, or the dressing can discolour.

Drizzle the dressing over the salad and gently toss it all with care and love so you don’t squash your tomatoes and fruit. Finally, arrange the anchovies evenly over the salad, scatter with the remaining basil leaves and serve.

Bagel chips

Don’t give up on your leftover bagels – these crunchy morsels might become your favourite dip companion once you try them. I prefer to leave the slices whole for maximum dipping surface area, but see what you like. You can always crumble them just a little after they’ve baked and cooled.

You will need a good, sharp breadknife for this recipe.

INGREDIENTS

2 day-old bagels

1 rosemary sprig, leaves torn

1 Tbsp sea salt flakes

1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

METHOD

Heat the oven to 110°C.

Slice each bagel in half (through the hole from above), then slice it into thin discs, approximately 2–5 mm or as close to this as you can. Try not to go over 1 cm thickness.

Spread the discs on a baking tray, sprinkle with rosemary and sea salt and drizzle with olive oil. Toss to coat liberally.

Bake for 10–12 minutes, remove from the oven and allow to cool. Bagel chips will keep at their best in an airtight container for 2–3 days.

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