Parmesan cheese rinds

[brreynolds]

A friend bought a bag of parmesan cheese rinds, and asked me if I knew of any use for them except tossing them into soup. (And derivatively, I suppose, stews and chili.)

I haven't had a lot of luck turning up other ideas by searching this forum (lots of "parmesan" and "cheese" hits, not any that add "rind" that I can see) or Google (lots of soup varieties, but nothing "out of the box")?

Can anyone suggest other uses?

[tralfaz]

Soup is the tradional thing to do. If they're not really dry (and room temp) they can be grated/processed into usable sprinkling cheese. If they are really dry, I'm stumped. The soup thing is great because it heats and reconstitutes the things. I suppose you could just soak them in hot water, drain and chop, then add to something that gets cooked. Lasagne, a ricotta filling, maybe even gnocchi or ravioli.

[phatch]

one of the Italians here places chunks of rind in wine to enjoy wine and cheese together simultaneously.

[Anneke]

Try making Parmiggiano oil. It's great for dressing delicate lettuces that cannot withstand much vinegar like mache lettuce. It's also awesome on carpaccio.

[Suzanne]

Anneke -- instructions, please? Sounds really interesting.