Enhance your gratins, pasta dishes, vegetable sides, and a host of other dishes with crunchy, freshly toasted bread crumbs.

I love them sprinkled over pasta dishes like Pasta with Winter Squash and Pine Nuts (pictured).

They’re easy to make, and well worth the effort. Try this:* Roughly chop 1/3 of a fresh baguette and place in a food processor; pulse until you have crumbs. Toast crumbs in a sauté pan over medium-low heat with a little olive oil or butter; season with salt.

*Note: Like other personal recipes posted on this blog, this has not been run through the formal Test Kitchens’ tasting and testing process required for all the recipes published in Cooking Light magazine and on MyRecipes.