Cook Like an Italian: Seven Recipes with Parmigiano Reggiano to Try at Home

Indulge on Parmigiano Reggiano with our list of seven recipes.

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Parmigiano Reggiano is one of the most sophisticated Italian delicacies that truly deserves its title “King of Cheeses”. It can be used in thousands of delicious recipes from pastas and risottos to salads and mains as well as deserts. Try these recipes and you are guaranteed to get a good feel of la Dolce Vita, no matter where you are.

Cheese Platter with Parmigiano Reggiano

Cheese platters make a great starter and truly decorate any table. Parmigiano Reggiano goes well with fruits, nuts, jams and honey and can be enhanced with a drop of traditional balsamic vinegar. The cheese also pairs well both with white and red wine.

Parmigiano Reggiano Salad with Avocado, Strawberries and Figs

This stunningly beautiful salad is a fresh and fruity combination of avocado, strawberries, fresh figs and Parmigiano Reggiano shavings, with a lemon, mustard and olive oil dressing. Verdict? Sensational!

Preparation: 20 minutes

Cooking: 50 minutes

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

80g Bag mixed salad leaves
2 Ripe medium avocados, peeled, pitted and sliced
150g Strawberries, halved
3-4 Figs (depending on size), quartered
Parmigiano Reggiano shavings
Ciabatta, sourdough bread or granary toast, to serve

For the dressing:

4 tbsp. Olive oil
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. Dijon or wholegrain mustard
Pinch of salt, sugar and pepper

METHOD

Arrange the salad leaves on two serving plates. Share the avocados, strawberries and figs between them.
Use a potato peeler to make Parmigiano Reggiano shavings, and use them to top the salads.
Make the dressing by whisking together the olive oil, lemon juice and mustard. Season with a pinch of salt, sugar and pepper, then sprinkle over the salads.
Serve at once, with warm ciabatta, sourdough bread or granary toast.

Cook’s tip: To make for one person, simply halve the quantities. The salad is so speedy to make – it’s ideal for a quick healthy lunch.

Spinach and Parmigiano-Reggiano Muffins

These wonderfully light savoury muffins are perfect for breakfast or brunch – or just enjoy them as a snack when you’re feeling peckish.

Makes 8

250g (9oz) plain flour

½ tsp salt

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp caster sugar

75g (3oz) Parmigiano-Reggiano

100g (4oz) spinach, cooked, cooled and chopped

1 egg

240ml (8fl oz) milk

90ml (3fl oz) vegetable oil

Grate the Parmigiano-Reggiano finely, and set aside

Preheat the oven to 190°C / fan oven 170°C / Gas Mark 5. Put eight paper muffin cases into a muffin pan, or line them with squares of greaseproof paper

Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar, about two-thirds of the Parmigiano-Reggiano and the spinach. In a large jug, beat together the egg, milk and vegetable oil

Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients. Using a metal spoon, stir until just combined. You must not beat this mixture or stir it too much. It should be quite lumpy, but there should be no traces of dry flour

Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases and sprinkle the remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes until risen and golden. Serve whilst warm

Cook’s tips: Press out the excess water from the cooked spinach with your hands or use the back of a spoon. If you’re wondering why sugar is in the recipe, this is because it improves the texture and flavour of the muffins.

FISH CONSOMME WITH PARMIGIANO REGGIANO DUMPLINGS (Tharani Sribaskaran)

SERVES 2

Fish Consommé

340g FISH SCRAPS and SHRIMP SHELLS

3 EGG WHITES

2L FISH STOCK, chilled

25g FRESH GINGER ROOT, minced

1 LEMON, juiced

1 white ONION, minced

½ cup LEMONGRASS, minced

2 stalks CELERY, minced

1 LEEK, washed and minced

Parmigiano Reggiano Dumplings

50g PARMIGIANO REGGIANO

100g SELF RAISING FLOUR

50g SUET

1 tsp BAKING POWDER

SALT and BLACK PEPPER

1 handful of fresh PARSLEY, chopped

1 GARLIC CLOVE

OIL

To serve

100g ROOT VEGETABLES, diced and cooked

Method

Fish Consommé: mix onion, lemongrass, celery, leek and refrigerate. Mix vegetables with ginger, fish scraps, shrimp shells, egg whites and add to stockpot. Pour in fish stock and add lemon juice. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Once the raft forms and rises to the surface, stop stirring. Take broth from the edge of the pot and baste the raft. After 60-90 minutes, the raft will begin to sink and the consommé is finished.

Dumplings: Sieve flour into a mixing bowl. Add suet, baking powder, seasoning, parsley, Parmigiano Reggiano and garlic. Stir and form a well. Slowly stir in water to form a smooth dough. Once the mixture begins to take shape, knead it together and pick up any loose flour. Roll out dough into a rope, cut into 5g pieces and shape into balls. Deep fry in hot oil at 170°C for 3-4 minutes until golden.

To Serve: Stir root vegetables through fish consommé and serve with Parmigiano Reggiano dumplings.

Parmigiano-Reggiano crisp canapés topped with lemon pepper cream and hot smoked salmon

Makes 10 canapés

15ml Crème fraiche

Finely grated zest of one lemon

Fennel seeds, chopped

Grated and shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, to serve

½ small fennel bulb

75g Hot smoked salmon, flaked

Salt and black pepper

Crisps:

50g Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated

1 tbsp plain flour

Grease and line a large baking sheet with greaseproof paper
Mix Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and plain flour, along with a good pinch of black pepper
Spoon teaspoon-sized rounds of this mixture onto the baking sheet and flatten slightly with the back of the spoon. The mixture should give 10 crisps, make sure there is plenty of space between each one, as the mixture will spread a little
Place the rounds under a hot grill for 2-3 minutes until the cheese has melted to make a golden-brown crisp
Remove each crisp carefully using a pallet knife and leave to cool on greaseproof paper
Mix crème fraiche together with lemon zest and season to taste
To assemble, spoon a small amount of lemon crème fraiche on top of each crisp. Then sprinkle with a few fennel seeds, grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and finely chopped fennel, before topping with flakes of hot smoked salmon and black pepper
Finally, garnish with sprigs of fresh fennel and serve

Cook’s tip: Make things easy for yourself and prepare ahead. Both the crisps and lemon cream can be made in the morning, just keep the crisps in an air-tight container and refrigerate the cream

Parmigiano Reggiano Chicken Tray Bake

This delicious chicken tray bake with Parmigiano Reggiano is an easy assembly job – with great-tasting results!

Preparation: 25 minutes

Cooking: 35-40 minutes

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

2 Red peppers, deseeded and cut into chunks
1 Yellow pepper, deseeded and cut into chunks
1 Red onion, sliced into thin wedges
200g Cauliflower florets
4 tbsp. Olive oil
4 Chicken breasts
4 tsp. Sun-dried tomato paste or red pesto
8 Basil leaves
1 Large egg
60g Parmigiano Reggiano, finely grated
60g Dried white breadcrumbs (e.g. Panko)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Basil leaves, to garnish

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 190°C/Fan oven 170°C/ Gas Mark 5.
Put the peppers, onion and cauliflower into a large roasting tin and add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Season and toss to mix.
Use a sharp knife to cut a pocket into each chicken breast. Add 1 tsp. of sun-dried tomato paste or red pesto to each pocket with 2 basil leaves, then use cocktail sticks or wooden skewers to close the pockets.
Beat the egg in a shallow bowl with 1 tbsp. of water and season with salt and pepper. Put the Parmigiano Reggiano and breadcrumbs into a second shallow bowl and mix together. Dip the chicken breasts, one by one, into the beaten egg, then coat them in the Parmigiano Reggiano mixture. Place them on top of the vegetables and drizzle with the remaining olive oil.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked. To test, insert a fine skewer or sharp knife into the thickest part – there should be no trace of pink juices. If there are, cook for a little longer. Serve, garnished with basil leaves.

Cook’s tip: If you like, bake some jacket potatoes in the oven to serve with the chicken – just put them in twenty minutes beforehand so that they cook for 1 hour.

PARMIGIANO REGGIANO CHEESECAKE (Jodie Rogers)

SERVES 4

Cheesecake

100g DIGESTIVE CRUMBS

4 tbsp SUGAR

8 tbsp BUTTER, melted

800g CREAM CHEESE, softened

1 tin CONDENSED MILK

2 tbsp FLOUR

4 tbsp LEMON JUICE

100g PARMIGIANO REGGIANO, grated

4 EGGS

Sweet Cheese Tuile

50g BUTTER

50g ICING SUGAR

1 EGG

50g PLAIN FLOUR

15g PARMIGIANO REGGIANO, grated

20g FLAKED ALMONDS

To Serve

15g ICING SUGAR

150g CLOTTED CREAM

½ tsp VANILLA ESSENCE

RED BERRY PURÉE

CLOTTED CREAM

MINT

BLUEBERRIES

Method

Cheesecake: Line a 23cm cake tin. Mix digestive crumbs, sugar and butter. Spoon over base of the tin and press down. Preheat oven to 170°C. Mix cheese and condensed milk until fluffy. Add flour, lemon juice and Parmigiano Reggiano. Add eggs and pour mixture over the biscuit base. Cook for 1 hour 10 minutes and cool before serving.

Sweet Cheese Tuile: Cream together butter and icing sugar. Slowly beat in egg, fold in flour and Parmigiano Reggiano. Spread thin layers of the mixture into a greaseproof sheet. Sprinkle over almonds and more sugar. Bake for 3-4 minutes until golden and quickly curl around a rolling pin.

To Serve: Whisk clotted cream with sugar and vanilla essence. Serve slices of cheesecake with red berry purée, clotted cream and top with mint. Garnish with blueberries.