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I grew up surrounded by intuitive cooks. There were no recipes, very little planning was involved—and best of all, was the endless creativity that swirled throughout every kitchen I stepped foot into. This is how, when, and where I learned to cook and fall in love with different food and flavors. To this day, at the tip top of this list, is my mom.
The best dinners we had growing up were those that came together by using whatever we had in the refrigerator, pantry, and garden that week. If we had pancetta, a pound of pasta, and some fresh tomatoes and basil, I knew a mouthwatering pasta dish would hit the table in about 30 minutes. If we had stock, leftover chicken, and some carrots and celery, a comforting pot of soup would sit on the stove within the hour. We never ate the same thing twice, even if it was the same dish as the week before.
While I do wish I had more written recipes from my mom and those who came before her, there is a special and unique gift that comes with a lifetime of being immersed in this type of open-ended creativity. It taught me to be creative, intuitive, savvy, scrappy, and most importantly, that the sky’s the limit when it comes to deciding what’s for dinner. My mom wasn’t one to follow recipes—but one thing that our food never, ever lacked was flavor. And one of her biggest tricks for adding a quick and robust boost of flavor to our meals was a Parmesan cheese rind.
Why Cheese Rinds Are a Magical Ingredient
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I have vivid memories of my mom keeping a zip-top bag full of Parmesan cheese rinds in our refrigerator’s cold cut drawer. This bag was constantly utilized in the weeknight meal rotation. She would never, ever let a rind go to waste. This was partially because she refuses to waste food or flavor, but she loved them mainly because tucking just one into a soup or pasta dish adds umami-rich flavor.
Cheese rinds are located on the outer layer of the cheese, so they are exposed throughout the aging process and absorb the flavors that develop over a period of time. As a result, cheese rinds become little flavor bombs, with even just a small piece containing a highly concentrated amount of the cheese’s aged flavors. Allowing the rind to simmer in pasta sauce or soup broths allows that savory flavor to release during the cooking process.
The Best Cheese Rinds to Save
When it comes to saving cheese rinds, preserve them in an airtight bag or container, and keep them in the coldest part of your refrigerator to remain fresh and packed with flavor. They have a long shelf life, and can last for up to six months. However, the sooner you use them, the more flavor they’ll pack. Stick to the rinds of hard, aged cheeses like Parmesan, Parmigiano Reggiano, Pecorino Romano, Manchego, or Gruyère. These cheeses have had a long time to acquire flavor, and so their rinds will give you the best, most savory results when added to a dish.
How To Incorporate Cheese Rinds into Recipes
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This is the easiest part! Simply tuck your rind into the mix. If you’re making a pot of sauce like marinara or Bolognese, press the rind into the pot as it simmers and stir periodically as you normally would to help those flavors release. If you’ve prepared a pasta dish ahead of time, like penne with sausage and broccoli rabe, tuck a cheese rind into the center of the dish, underneath the pasta, where it can remain warm enough for sharp, tangy flavors to distribute.
If you’re preparing soup like chicken noodle soup or minestrone, add a cheese rind to the pot as it simmers on the stove. Whether I’m making pasta or soup, I usually add a cheese rind as early as possible, because I want those flavors to have time to work their magic. You can remove the rind for serving, or leave it to continue releasing flavor. Just be sure not to serve a big bite of cheese rind to anyone!
The delicious dinners you can create with a cheese rind, some pasta water or chicken stock, a pound of pasta, and some fresh vegetables are pure magic. I now have cheese rinds constantly stored in my refrigerator, just like my mom did growing up. Add a savory cheese rind to your next pot of soup or delicious pasta dish to discover one of the easiest ways to uplift a meal.
My Mom’s Secret Ingredient for Perfect Gravy Every Time
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