I had asked dad to get 2 packs of strong cheddar and he has come back with two big packs of Parmesan-- the expensive variety. I normally go for the cheap pregrated one. !! So two questions..
1: whats your favourite parmesan recipe??
2:now that i have two big blocs and they will last me months-- do you think its better for me to grate it and store it in the fridge or just freeze one of the blocs..l have never frozen cheese before??
thanks.
You are going to discover that the difference between what you have and that cheap, pre-grated stuff is like the difference between cheap instant coffee and the finest fresh stuff. No comparison.
Don't pre-grate it. It will start losing its specialness right away. It will keep for some time your refirgerator. On cheese vendor suggests:
Parmigiano Reggiano will last for months when properly stored.
* Keep cheese tightly wrapped in a zip-close plastic bag with all the air squeezed out.
Only grate or slice the cheese as you use it. Re-wrap remaining cheese tightly with wax paper, and return it to the zip-close bag.
If your piece begins to dry out, wrap it in slightly damp cheesecloth or paper towel, and then wrap it in plastic wrap or put it back in its zip-close bag.
Store the cheese in the warmest part of the refrigerator<hr>
You can freeze it, but it will lose some of its flavor & texture. Freeze chucnks that are at least about 250g. Wrap very tightly in foil, then put in a pastic bag. Don't refreeze after you tke it out.
Italians serve thin slices of parmesan with pears.
Pesto (Blend or food process a big handful of basil leaves, a clove of garlic, a small handful of grated parmesan (or other hard cheese with a strong flavor), a very small handful of pine nuts, a little salt and enough good olive oil so that the blender or food processor can grind the other ingredients). Mix with pasta or stir into vegetable soup.
Pasta alla carbonara (saute chopped bacon or pancetta in butter, mix with cream, beaten eggs, salt, pepper and grated parmesan and then toss with freshly drained, very hot spaghetti.) Italians like it a little bit creamy and not completely cooked, but if you're serving it to someone whose immune system isn't very robust, be sure that it's completely cooked or used a pasteurized egg product instead of real eggs.
I wouldn't wrap it in plastic, as it will "sweat", and go really greasy. Waxed paper is the best thing for storing cheese in, although baking parchment type stuff will suffice.
Whenever I buy parmesan, I tend to use it "raw" when I first buy it (in salads, sprinkled over pasta, pesto). After a couple of months in the fridge (I always forget it's there), it's normally as solid as a rock, but will still grate well for use in cooked dishes, like finishing a risotto or carbonara where the cheese melts into the dish.
As for the pre-grated stuff, it smells of cat-sick, and tastes worse.
A thin shaving of parmesan, placed on the tongue, will ward off hunger, but hasten the next sip of wine
Agreeing with the above,( except Drovers_ -- if Dad's buying the really good parmeggiano forget about sending it back!) especially Nerb, Get good bread, really good fresh tomatoes or high quality dried toamatoes in oil, some really good black olives and a lovely bottle of red wine. Open and set out everything and start shaving little curls of cheese and sampling a bit of this and a dab of that with each bite. Then you can die and heaven will seem a bit bland........
We do freeze parmeggiano and, as mentioned, don't refreeze it. But hard cheese freezes quite well and it's better than letting it get too dry. And remember, the last little pieces too small to easily grate are thrown into pots of soup, especially a Tuscan bean soup type, And the cook gets to eat the softened chunk when it's served.
Thin slices of parmesan cheese and thinly sliced of parma ham, lightly sprinkled with olive oil (just a few drops). Honey melon cubes with mozzarela on the side. And of course, a bottle of red.
Grate a bunch of the parmesan. Turn on your broiler. Spread the parmesan into little circles (not very thick) on a non-stick baking tray and stick it under the broiler. When it turns golden brown, take the tray out. After a few minutes, scrape off your deeeelicious parmesan crisps! Set them aside to harden. Stick them on salads, in soups, as pasta garnishes, etc. Or, after scraping off the crisps press them into non-stick muffin trays and let them harden into little parmesan cups. Then, fill the cups with anything- salad greens, roasted veggies, etc.
