If you love cheese, these recipe will also feed your soul as well as your stomach
Dubai: One of my biggest realisations of adulthood, was understanding my deep love for cheese. Especially the sharp, flavourful parmesan cheese. This hard Italian cheese is one of the most popular in the world. You can find it in most restaurants and many households. We usually sprinkle it on top of pasta, but there’s so many incredible ways you can incorporate it into your meals.
Here are four beautiful recipes focusing on Parmigiano-Reggiano as a main ingredient
Roasted chicken with lemon, herb and parmigiano reggiano butter
Serves four
Ingredients
1 Free-range chicken, 1.8 – 2kg
1 Shallot, finely chopped
100ml Dry white wine
150ml Double Cream
125g Unsalted Butter, cubed and chilled
50g Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
10g Flat leaf Parsley, large stalks removed and finely chopped
1 Sprig Tarragon, leaves removed and chopped (approx.. 3g)
1 tbsp Lemon Juice, (approx. ¼ Lemon)
Two Pinches Lemon Zest, (approx. 1/8 Lemon)
Salt and Pepper
Method
For the Chicken:
Roast your chicken in your usual way, or:
1. Spatchcock chicken by cutting out the backbone and flattening the bird. Season generously.
2. Place backbone, wing tips and any giblets (except the liver) that came with the bird into a baking tray with a good slug of water. Then place the chicken on a wire rack over the top of the roasting tray.
3. Roast at 230˚C for 30 to 45 minutes (depending on the size of your chicken) until golden brown, and the leg meat easily pulls away when pinched with your fingers.
4. Remove the chicken and roasting tray from the oven and leave to rest for at least 15 minutes. Strain the chicken juices from the tray in to a small jug, spooning any fat off that rises to the top.
For the Sauce:
1. Place the shallots and white wine into a saucepan, bring to the boil and reduce wine by ¾.
2. Add double cream, chicken juices and gently simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Strain hot cream into a jug, add butter and blend with a hand blender until smooth.
4. Add Parmigiano Reggiano, herbs, lemon juice and zest. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Adjust seasoning if needed with more salt, pepper, or lemon juice to taste
To serve, carve the chicken and serve with seasonal vegetable and the cheesy sauce.
Stuffed chicken wings with parmigiano reggiano gnocchi
Serves four
Ingredients
For the chicken wings
100 g chicken, minced
Salt and black pepper
1 tbsp oregano
1 tsp lemon zest
30g parmigiano reggiano
4 red peppers, roasted and chopped
2 tbsp double cream
16 chicken wings, boned
Butter
Oil
For the gnocchi
250g wild garlic
1 egg yolk
80g flour
250g ricotta
30g parmigiano reggiano
For the potato purée
150g potatoes, peeled and chopped
150g parmigiano reggiano
180g crème fraîche
Lemon juice
To serve
Chicken jus
Vinaigrette
Vegetables
Method
Chicken Wings
Combine chicken, seasoning, oregano, lemon zest, Parmigiano Reggiano, peppers and cream. Put into a piping bag and chill. Stuff each chicken wing with the mixture. Arrange 4 wings on cling film, wrap and tie each end, repeat. Poach wings, simmer for 10 minutes and cool. Remove from cling film and cook for 4 minutes in butter and oil.
Gnocchi
Blanch garlic, refresh, squeeze out excess water and blend with egg yolk. Mix flour, seasoning, ricotta and the parmesan. Add garlic mixture and combine to form a dough, chill. Roll dough into sausage shapes on a floured surface and cut into 2cm pieces. Boil in salted water until gnocchi rise. Lower heat, simmer for 2 minutes, refresh in cold water and keep moist. Pan fry in oil and finish with butter.
Purée
Boil potatoes and season. Drain and set to one side. Melt the cheese with crème fraîche mixture and pass through a sieve. Season and add lemon juice.
To Serve
Place chicken wings on a plate with gnocchi and purée. Serve with a chicken jus, vinaigrette and vegetables.
Dijon and parmigiano reggiano crusted fish fingers
Serves two as a light meal
Ingredients:
240g Fresh haddock fillets, cut into 4-6 strips
20g Dijon Mustard
30g Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
For the Salad:
1 tsp Lemon Juice, freshly squeezed
½ tsp Dijon Mustard
2 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
100g Mixed salad leaves, washed
8 Cherry tomatoes, halved
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200˚C; fan oven 180 ˚C, gas mark 6.
2. Put the goujons in a mixing bowl. Mix with the Dijon Mustard until fully coated.
3. Add the grated parmesan to the bowl and lightly mix until the fish is coated. Do not over mix as the reggiano may begin to clump together.
4. Place a wire rack on to a baking tray and arrange the fish on top. This will help them to crisp up evenly during cooking. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Put the ingredients for the vinaigrette into a large bowl and whisk until emulsified. Add the lettuce and tomatoes to the vinaigrette.
5. Share between 2 serving plates and arrange the fish fingers on top. Serve with some extra vinaigrettes and some parmigiano reggiano shavings to finish.
Baked salmon with a parmigiano reggiano and dill crust
Serves two
Ingredients
Salmon
2 salmon supremes
2 tbsp dill, chopped
Olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
4 tbsp of grated parmigiano reggiano,
50g breadcrumbs
Salt and black pepper
Sauce
1 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic
100ml double cream
Lemon juice, to taste
2 tbsp dill
Potatoes
8 new potatoes
Butter
1 spring onion, chopped
3 tbsp parmigiano reggiano
To serve
10 green beans
Method
Salmon:
Season salmon and place on a greased tray, skin side down. Mix dill, olive oil, lemon juice, Parmigiano Reggiano and breadcrumbs and cover salmon. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 200°C.
Sauce
Sweat onions and garlic until transparent. Add add cream and simmer. Add lemon juice and dill to taste. Season.
Potatoes
Boil new potatoes in salted water for 10 minutes. When cooked, drain and crush with a fork. Stir in butter, spring onions and parmesan cheese. Shape into a potato cake and pan fry in butter until golden brown.
To serve, blanch green beans in salted water for 6 minutes and serve with salmon, new potatoes and white wine sauce.
