The Frozen Parmesan Trick to Improve Your Soup Effortlessly

After learning that packaged, pre-grated parmesan from the supermarket may not be entirely cheese, some people have decided to buy their parmesan in blocks. Traditional blocks of Parmigiano-Reggiano add much more flavor to a dish and allow home cooks access to the rind of the cheese, which may have more uses than you think. The rind is the hard part at the edge of a piece of cheese from a giant wheel; they are too difficult to eat and are therefore often thrown in the trash. However, once you learn how a parmesan rind can enhance a dish, you’ll never want to throw one out again. Instead, put them in the freezer and use them to flavor soups.

Saving your parmesan zest to add to soup later is a great way to enhance the flavor of your dish and take it from a warm treat to something mind-blowingly delicious that tastes like a hug warm in a bowl. This works because the rind of a wheel of Parmesan captures much of that nutty, salty flavor of the cheese without adding melty cheese. Therefore, Parmesan rinds can be used in soups that already use Parmesan, such as minestrone, and in classic soups without cheese, such as chicken noodle.

Read more: 21 Tips for Making Soup Like a Professional Chef

How to Freeze and Use Parmesan Zest

To store your leftover crusts, place them in an airtight plastic bag and put them in the freezer. Parmesan peels will stay good for up to a year once frozen and can be removed whenever you feel like making a homemade soup. Overall, the process is simple and you don’t need to thaw the crusts before adding them to your soup because the hot broth will do the work for you.

To extract the most flavor from your leftover crust, let it simmer in a pot of hot soup for at least 30 minutes; this is enough time for the crust to soften and release its delicious flavor into the broth. Once finished, remove any remaining soup before serving. If the crust used is soft, you can even eat it! Contrary to popular belief, cheese rinds are edible and taste good. However, if the crust is still hard, you will probably need to throw it away.

Other Ways to Use Leftover Parmesan Rinds

As you might have already guessed, the usefulness of parmesan zest doesn’t stop with soup. You can flavor many dishes with leftover parmesan zest. For example, add them to a pot of pasta sauce for an even tastier batch of spaghetti and meatballs, or even add them to a pot of olive oil and let it sit for a few days to a Parmesan-infused oil that’s perfect for drizzling. . You can also add a rind to the pot when cooking rice to take simple chicken and rice dishes – or any rice dish – to the next level.

If you have enough rinds, you can even make a Parmesan broth. Parmesan broth is a flavorful vegetarian alternative to chicken broth and can be made by simmering 1 pound of parmesan rinds in 8 cups of water. Of course, if you’re planning to make Parmesan the star of your dish, we recommend investing in aged, refined cheese, as the age of Parmesan dictates its flavor.

Read the original article on Daily Meal.