Rinds from hard, aged cheeses can be used to flavor soups and stews.
If you are a cook that has a hard time throwing away food, you have likely reached the rind portion of your favorite cheese and wondered how it could be utilized to save it from the garbage. While wax rinds and the rinds of soft cheeses like Brie and Camembert are best discarded, rinds from hard, aged as Parmesan, Romano, Pecorino, Grana Padano and Parmigiano-Reggiano can be used for several culinary purposes.
Fine Grating
Other than being impenetrable by most teeth, cheese rinds are just as edible as the rest of the cheese as their hardness comes from age; even the embossed lettering on wheels of Parmigiano-Reggiano is non-toxic. A fine-toothed Microplane grater or similar tool can be used to hand-grate cheese rinds. If the rind is still slightly pliable, it can be grated by dropping it through the food chute of a heavy-duty food processor fitted with the metal chopping blade while the machine is running. Use the powdery cheese to top soups, salads and cooked vegetables or add it to homemade creamed corn as a tasty thickening agent.
Flavoring Ideas
Cheese rinds impart soups, stews, chowders and tomato based spaghetti and pizza sauces with a mild yet distinctive taste. Just toss chunks of rind into the pot as the mixture slowly simmers and, in a few hours, the rind will be smaller or perhaps disappear and the flavor of your dish will be enhanced. Remove and discard any leftover pieces before serving.
Cheese Stock
Instead of starting your next batch of soup with homemade chicken, beef or vegetable stock, begin with cheese stock. Simmer around 8 cups of water with about a 1/2 lb. of hard cheese rinds for three to four hours. The broth can be used for clear soups as well as pureed soups commonly flavored with cheese, such as potato, broccoli and cauliflower. You can freeze leftover cheese broth as successfully as other broths, although it may lose a bit of body.
Storing Cheese Rinds
To keep the rinds from molding or becoming harder, start a cheese rind bag in your freezer. Use a zip closure bag and toss in rinds as they become available. Cheese rinds will keep for up to a year in the freezer if stored in an airtight bag or container. Mix and match rinds from assorted hard cheeses to create unique flavors in dishes.
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