Frico - A Parmesan Cracker
This quite possibly could be one of the easiest recipes you will ever make, but it never ceases to amaze me and anybody I serve it to. Why? Simple. It tastes incredible, and - It has only one ingredient, which happens to be cheese. It’s really hard to find a cheese hater out there, and even more difficult to find a melted cheese hater. Grate it, bake it, eat it, share some, then hide the rest for yourself.
Ingredients
- 1- pound Parmesan cheese freshly grated or chopped into tiny pieces in a food processor. This will give you roughly 18-20 crackers. NOTE: No need for the expensive Parmigiano-Reggiano stuff. If using all Parmesan, I find a good, inexpensive Parmesan. Bel Gioso is my current favorite. My other favorite way to make them is to use a combination of cheeses, and love mixing Parmesan/Grana Padano, Asiago, and Provolone. Often, I will throw in a little bit of Sharp Cheddar too – It just depends on what is hanging around the house when the mood strikes.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Grate the cheese by hand or use a food processor. If using a food processor, cut the cheese into about 1-inch cubes and process in small batches or you will run the risk of getting the processor blades stuck in cheese. This is not pretty.
- Drop the grated cheese in about 2 tablespoon scoops onto a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper, or on a Silpat mat. Note: A coffee measuring spoon works well for this since it just happens to be 2 tablespoons. One more thing: Feel free to make them smaller if you want with no harm done.
- Pat the cheese down to form a round, cracker shape.
- Bake the crackers for about 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbling fiercely and starting to turn color to a more golden shade. Every oven is different, so keep your eyes open at about the 10-minute mark. If you take them out too early, the crunch factor in the finished cracker is greatly reduced, so it’s best to err on the side of over rather than under baking.
- Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet. When cool, you can serve immediately as crackers. To make croutons, just crumble the crackers into fairly large pieces. If you have any NOTE: Leftover crackers (ha ha) can be kept in a zip lock bag in the refrigerator. These crackers can also freeze beautifully.