Jamie Oliver has urged home cooks not to throw away the Parmesan rind of a block of cheese, as it can serve a very important purpose when whipping up a hearty batch of soup
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is urging people not to throw away one kitchen scrap and to be more mindful about food wastage.
When cooking a meal in a hurry, we don’t think about the amount of food that we’re throwing in the bin. Many of these ingredients might be seen as waste products, but they can have a second purpose.
In a video shared on his TikTok account, the chef shared an important message, urging people to save certain ingredients they might be throwing in the bin, the Mirror reports.
Jamie told people not to throw away any parmesan rinds, the hard outer edge at the end of a block of cheese. This is because they work perfectly to season certain dishes. Interesting, right?
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Parmesan cheese is the perfect topping for a pasta dish, since its strong flavour pairs beautifully with the blend of Italian ingredients. According to Jamie, even the rind can be surprisingly useful.
In the video, the chef said while slicing off the cheese wedge: “That rind of parmesan – often that goes in the bin. It’s hard and it’s salty. But what if I put it in here?” as he dropped it into a sizzling pan of vegetables.
He added: “You can use that as a seasoning flavour bomb. Parmesan has that umami flavour, it’s also very salty on the skin. But when you put it in a soup, you shouldn’t have to season much at all.”
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The chef also proceeded to spoon the soup into a bowl with the parmesan rind: “Interestingly, after some nice simmering, that hard, inedible parmesan rind actually softens up.”
“And then you can actually slice it up and eat it, fry it and make it crispy – it’s very, very cool,” he concluded.
People were quick to flood the comments section with suggestions on how they use their leftover Parmesan rinds. One user wrote: “In Italy we never throw away the rind of the parmesan, pasta and beans, legume soups.”
A second one added: “Put it in risotto when cooking,” with a third one saying: “I put it into minestrone.”
By keeping the Parmesan rinds, you can elevate the flavour of your dishes – and it doesn’t cost a thing! By finding a second purpose for some ingredients, you can avoid excessive food wastage and save some pennies: a win-win situation.