Chicken Lasagna with Cheese: Easy Step-by-Step Recipe
Massas
Glossário Culinário
Parmesan Cheese
Parmesan cheese is a hard, aged cheese with an intense, salty flavor, inspired by Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano and widely produced in Brazil. With a firm, grainy texture, it is the cheese grated over pastas, risottos and soups, and the one behind the golden gratin crust on lasagnas and escondidinhos. A little freshly grated transforms any simple dish.
Characteristics
National parmesan is aged for months until firm, dry and easy to grate, with a salty, striking flavor. Bagged grated cheese is practical for everyday cooking, while a wedge grated fresh has a livelier aroma and melts better. Because it is aged and low in moisture, it keeps well in the fridge and packs a lot of flavor in a small amount, so it goes a long way.
Uses in the kitchen
It finishes pastas, lasagnas, gnocchi, risottos, white sauces and soups, goes into farofas, breaded coatings and fuller cheese breads, and browned in the oven forms golden, crunchy crusts. It pairs with tomato, basil, butter, olive oil and black pepper, and served in shavings with honey or jam it becomes a respectable appetizer for guests.
Substitutions
Parmesan can be swapped for national hard cheeses, such as montanhês and well-aged meia-cura, freshly grated. Pecorino and grana padano, when available, are close cousins in flavor and role. In dairy-free recipes, a mix of ground cashews with nutritional yeast and salt mimics the salty, crunchy finish over pastas and gratins.
Fun facts
Grating parmesan fresh, on the coarse side of the grater, preserves the aroma the bagged version loses over days. The hard rinds of the wedge need not go to waste: simmered in broth or sauce, they release deep flavor, and are discarded afterwards. Store the wedge wrapped in parchment paper inside a closed container in the fridge so it does not dry out or pass odors to other foods.
