Parmesan Frico Chips are so easy to make, but the problem is that you will want to make a lot because these lacy crisps are truly additive.
I saw packaged Parmesan Frico Chips the other day at Central Market. Wondering what frico chips were, I discovered that it was a traditional cheese cracker (actually a pancake) from Italy.
These beautiful lacy crackers were sampled right in middle of their fabulous cheese department.
To say Central Market has virtually every cheese known to man…or woman…would be a huge understatement. And their Parmesan Frico Chips did not disappoint.
Perfectly crisp and wonderful.
Unfortunately the price was super high, so I passed on them.
Then after returning home, I saw how simple they were to make. Not only that, but apparently they’ve been around for a long time.
The Italian name for these cheese crisps is Frico and they originally were made in the Fruili region of Italy.
How to Make Parmesan Frico Chips
This totally easy recipe has only one ingredient.
What can be simpler than that?
These lacy crisps are traditionally made with Parmesan cheese, or to the point Parmigiano-Reggiano, which impart a super wonderful flavor.
I must caution you at this point that if you decide to make these, do yourself a favor and use parchment paper. Not just a sprayed baking sheet or even foil.
Both of those will stick like crazy. These call for parchment paper, or a Silpat if you have it.
Parmesan Frico Chips are so easy to make. The only ingredient is grated Parmesan Cheese. Easy Peasy.
Begin by preheating your oven to 400 degrees.
The most important thing to remember is that you really need to use parchment paper or you will have a terrible time trying to remove the melted cheese off foil or even off a baking sheet (even if you spray it).
After you have lined your baking sheet with parchment paper, grate about a 1/2 cup of Parmesan Cheese.
Usually the type of Parmesan Cheese makes a difference, but not in this recipe so you can pass on the Parmesan Reggiano and go for the less expensive types of parmesan cheese and your chips will be perfectly wonderful.
But don’t use the prograded cheese because the pre-grated cheese almost always has potato starch or cellulose added to it so it won’t stick together, so stay with the brick type cheese that you can grate yourself.
When your cheese has been grated, just add about 1 heaping tsp of grated cheese per cracker at about 2″ intervals, and when you’re finished just tap the mounds down to slightly flatten them and tuck under any extra cheese to make them into even circles.
Bake at about 5 minutes until they are slightly brown. If you wait until they brown more they burn easily, so it’s best to remove them when they are just golden.
Remove from the oven and let then rest for about 1-2 minutes to firm up before you remove them carefully with a spatula and put them on a serving plate.
A Note on Using Different Types of Cheeses to Make Parmesan Frico Chips
As I was doing a bit of research on these chips, I found out that other hard cheeses can be substituted for the Parmesan as well. So as I was making these, I tried Gruyere as well because I love it so much.
The result was very different from the Parmesan. The Gruyere Chips were, well, not crisp at all. In fact, they were downright chewy.
Probably because there was more moisture in the cheese. Perhaps I could have cooked them longer, but the concern was burning them.
So for the moment I’ll stay with this traditional recipe of Parmesan Frico Chips, which is beyond thinking great.
If you like this recipe, please leave a comment below and pin us on Pinterest!
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Parmesan Frico Chips
Ingredients
- 1/2 Cup Parmesan cheese Shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
- On a parchment lined baking sheet place 1 heaping Tsp mounds of cheese at 2 inch intervals. Press each mound to slightly flatten them and tuck extra cheese into sides to make even circles.
- Bake 5 minutes until crisps are slightly brown around the edges. Watch them carefully to be sure they don't burn.
- Remove from oven and let rest on baking sheet 1-2 minutes to firm up. Then remove carefully with a spatula to a cooling rack.
Nutrition
What a Great idea! Plus these chips are so incredibly delicious. Thanks for the suggestion.