1,492 easy and fully explained recipes, with +66K photos and 78 videos

Parmesan cheese crusts

If you use Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano) in your recipes, you may have already noticed: when you grate it, it becomes (very) difficult near the crust, especially if it is a slightly aged parmesan, as the cheese gets harder and harder.

So we stop grating, leaving some crust on top, and a certain thickness of cheese. What will happen to these crusts?

14 K 4.8/5 (19 reviews)

Keywords for this post:Recovery Leftovers Cheese Savings

Last modified on: September 14^th 2022

For this post: Comment Follow Send to a friend

Parmesan cheese crusts

Let's start with an observation, these crusts are generally hard as wood!
You've done everything you can, but it's impossible to grate more, especially by hand, too hard, and you risk hurting your fingertips with the grater by pressing too hard.

croutes de parmesan

Should the crusts be thrown away? No, that would be a real shame, but then how to use them? Here are some tips.

In a hot and liquid preparation

It is very simple, as soon as you prepare something hot and liquid, a soup, a gratin or a sauce for example, add your croutes from the beginning of the cooking and let them perfume deliciously your preparation all the time of the cooking. Remove them before blending (soups) or using, note that they have become soft and can be eaten.

croutes de parmesan dans un futur gratin

Some examples of recipes where you can use these croutes: Potato gratin (in the milk with the potatoes), béchamel sauce (also in the milk) or leek-potato soup (when you add the water) and gratin with parmesan flavours.

In the oven

You can put your croutes in the oven for a few minutes at 180°C (360°F), they swell and become crispy, to be served as an aperitif for example.

croutes de parmesan au four

Olive oil with parmesan

Cut your croutes into small pieces, put them in a jar with a lid, cover with olive oil, and let them macerate for at least 15 days. The resulting parmesan oil will give a pleasant flavor to your sauces or pasta dishes.

To sum up: Do not throw away the Parmesan cheese crumbs, it would be a pity, it is better to use them in cooking, either hot (soups, sauces, in the oven, ...), or cold (maceration in olive oil).

Lasts posts

Grilled bacon is much better in the oven

Some recipes call for thin slices of bacon to be cooked and added to the recipe, or to prepare one of those delicious breakfasts known as "à l'Anglaise".
April 25^th 20251,1535

The thermometer is your friend

There are many recipes or foods that require a (very) precise cooking temperature: foie gras, sugar for caramel, meats and fish, and not forgetting pastries. For these few examples, getting the cooking temperature wrong can spoil the whole recipe or dish: undercooked, it's no good or misses the...
April 10^th 20251,5885

Travel cakes

You may have come across the term "travel cakes" ("gateaux de voyage" in french) for certain pastries, so let's take a look at what they're all about.
January 27^th 20253,115

The aromatic power of sugar

In the kitchen, sugar doesn't just sweeten, it also has an exceptional ability to capture flavors. Combined with aromatic ingredients, such as citrus zest, it acts as a veritable sponge for aromas. By taking the time to let the sugar soak up the flavors, you can transform your desserts, making...
December 25^th 20243,5815

The little trap of thick cream

When you need to add cream to a recipe, you might be wondering: thick (heavy) cream or liquid cream? In most cases, there's no big difference: you can use either. But there is one exception, and that's when the cream needs to be cooked, for a sauce for example, and here the difference between...
December 13^th 20243,6465

See all posts Random post RSS feeds

Other pages you may also like

What is the difference between bakery and patisserie?

This is a question that you may well have asked yourself and which I will attempt to answer. In France the two trades of "boulangerie" (bakery) and "pâtisserie" (patisserie and confectionery) have always been quite distinct, but where exactly do the boundaries lie? .
February 7^th 2017128 K 14.1

What happens to the bread when you make it?

This bread that we eat every day, and that our baker makes for us, what happens during its manufacture so that it becomes bread? I will try to answer this question, and to summarize the complex alchemy that takes place.
May 28^th 202111 K4.9

Steam for baking bread

What does steam have to do with bread-making? This is not only a bakers' secret, it is something you might not think of at all: if you make bread and bake it like a cake, you will end up with bread, but pale and with a thick, hard crust – a long way from the golden-brown crusty loaf you had in...
June 16^th 2021140 K4.5

For well opened (puffed) cakes

It's always nice to have a well puffed up cake after baking, not only will it taste good but it looks great too. Let's see how to get this beautiful shape almost every time.
January 23^th 201929 K4.2

Kitchen ovens

You certainly have one in your kitchen, an oven, the essential tool for all kinds of cooking, whether in the kitchen of course, but also in pastry, bakery, pizza, and many others. Here is some information on its structure and operation.
May 16^th 202029 K4.4