Lidia Bastianich Says "Cheese, Please!"
Cheese, please! It would seem undisputed, that cheese is part of the Italian table whether here in America, or in Italy. This delicious and healthy staple of the Italian-American diet, offers an abundance of ways in which we can use it. Growing up in Trieste, the capital of the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, I quickly became familiarized with the vast agriculture landscape. The part of the region referred to as Venezia is to the west and borders on the Veneto, where fertile plains spill into the Adriatic. This area is the richest agriculturally, full of lush pastures for cows to graze. These cows give us the brilliant Grana Padano, a semi-fat hard cheese, made from 100% cow’s milk, cooked and ripened slowly. It is produced by curdling the milk of cows that are fed on green and dried forages. The word Grana signifies that it is granular in texture--perfect for grating or shaving. A chunk of Grana Padano can be simply enjoyed on its own with a drizzle of honey, cooked into a soup, or grated over a pasta dish, such as my ziti with sausage, onions, and fennel, or over a refreshing salad of celery and artichoke. When finishing a skillet pasta dish with grated Grana Padano or a similar-style cheese, be sure to take the pan off the heat before you toss it in. Otherwise, the cheese can overheat and separate into oily and stringy components.
Never throw away your cheese rinds! Rinds are wonderful to use when making a long-cooking soup, as it will add subtle richness and depth of flavor. Soup is good for the soul, and my bread, potato, and arugula soup is very heartwarming, as well as good for you. For this soup, I like to add the rind pieces of Pecorino Romano to the pot while cooking, and finish the soup with freshly-grated Pecorino Romano. Pecorino Romano is a hard, cooked cheese, produced with whole fresh sheep milk, exclusively from the production area. In my kitchen, I keep a zippered bag in a drawer in the refrigerator where I stow a sizable piece of rind with a good layer of cheese. Stored airtight, it will last indefinitely. Rinse the rind pieces well before adding them to the dish, and remember to remove the rind pieces before serving.
When entertaining friends and family at home, cheese is often included as an hors d’oeuvres or as part of the antipasti course, often with an assortment of salumi, olives, and bread. A simple, delicious, and unique cheese hors d’oeuvres is frico croccante, or cheese chips, which are a favorite at both Lidia’s Kansas City and Lidia’s Pittsburgh. The perfect cheese for these chips is Montasio, a cooked, full-fat, semi-hard cheese, that is made from cow's milk. These simple, tasty chips are popular in the mountains of Friuli, and are always a popular party or snacking treat. Crispy Swiss chard cakes with Montasio is a guaranteed highlight at any brunch or lunch. Top them with a poached egg, or serve them between slices of bread, alongside grilled meats, or just as they are. Serve with a glass of Bastianich Friulano and you have the perfect meal!
There are just so many wonderful ways to eat and cook with cheese. Whether cow or sheep, young or aged, tangy or sweet, explore cheese and have fun. If you are visiting New York City, we welcome you to try some of the other creative ways our chefs use cheese at Felidia, Del Posto, or Becco.
