I'm a poor grad student, so this is perfect for me! I live on pasta.

Topping carbs with more carbs. I can get on board with that.

Sometimes I think I must be the only person who doesn't like bread crumbs. In theory they sound great, adding a little crunch to top things off, but I'm almost always disappointed or don't find it worth the effort. I've tried using store bought and home made and neither did the trick for me. Anyone else out there feel the same?

i love toasted breadcrumbs on pasta... especially ones with hearty veggie ragu sauce...cauliflower, yum!

Along those same lines, we have used crumbled goldfish crackers as a topping for mac-n-cheese. It's quite good.

Another great (and really healthy) alternative to parmesan is nutritional yeast. You can also put in on cereal, in smoothies, pancake batter- anything really. And of course, the added nutrition is a huge boon. buy it in bulk to save some cash and keep it in an airtight container.

@foodefafa - I'm also not a huge breadcrumb fan, but recently I have become smitten with panko - its really different from other bread crumbs.

What you made is essentialy farofa, a staple in Brazilain cuisine (although it originally was made with manioc flour). Brazilians top beans with it to absorb the liquid. Try it out as a side, a few spoonfulls over beans, lentisl, or anything moist really. I like to mixed it with collards, making another typical Brazilian dish (collards farofa): http://www.pinkbites.com/2009/06/sauteed-collard-greens-with-panko-and.html

Now, on the topic of pasta topping/cheese substitute, I just recently read on The Trhive Diet book an idea of grinding nutritional yeast with sesame seeds in a coffe grinder. I am curious to try that.

This way sound weird, but another cheap alternative to cheese on pasta is nutritional yeast. You can sprinkle it on just just shredded parm, and it has a similar tangy-salty flavor.

I think the Italian name for this is gremolata. It IS really good on roasted vegetables, especially broccoli.

I thought gremolata was the uncooked lemony-herby-garlicky mixture...?

But anyway, FRIED SHALLOTS from Asian markets also fill this bill. Smaller than fried onions and much more delicious.

I did this last night, with whole wheat spaghetti, fresh chopped tomatoes tossed in olive oil, and a fried egg-- it was great.

I don't remember where I got this idea (maybe from a recipe somewhere on this site), but I'll do bread-and-walnut crumbs-- two tablespoons of walnuts per slice of bread, zipped in a food processor or blender until integrated. Then toast them up in some butter or oil on the stove... divine.

Ooooh, yes, toasted breadcrumbs with plenty of seasoning make a lovely topping. Thanks for the reminder; I'd kinda forgotten about them.

One night last winter, I toasted up a much-too-big batch of seasoned breadcrumbs --- lovely homemade whole wheat bread that had staled just a bit, a very little bit of butter and oil, plenty of salt, some oregano and a spike of cayenne, all tossed in a low pan until they got nutty and fragrant. I used some of it on a dish of mac & cheese but stashed the leftovers tightly covered in the freezer. Every few meals all that month, I'd warm up just enough crumbs to sprinkle over something --- pasta, pan-seared greens, broiled mushrooms, a simple omelet --- and that little touch dressed up simple meals quite a bit.