If you really want to impress someone with your cooking prowess, here’s something you’ll want in your arsenal. Parmesan cheese is the ingredient, a quality non-stick fry pan (or silicone baking mat) is your equipment, and you’re about to get Nino’s experience as a qualified teacher to help you successfully (and repeatedly) make these attractive and delicious accompaniments.

First, let’s talk cheese.

You’ll need a fresh, high-quality Parmesan cheese. We typically use finely shredded, but you can use grated. Of course, we sell this at Nino’s. Do not use Parmesan cheese that comes in a green tube with a shaker top (let’s just leave it there).

Regarding the equipment, you’ll need either a non-stick pan without any wear and tear (meaning deep scratches) on it. Alternatively, you can use a silicone baking mat (Sil-pat) resting on a cookie sheet or baking pan for rigidity and support.

If you’re using a pan, place it on the largest burner you have so that you get even heat from edge to edge, and set the temperature to medium. If you’re using a silicone baking sheet (which we prefer) set your oven to 375 F. What good Parmesan cheese will do, once heated, is melt and then, when cooled, crisp up to form a ridged crisp. If you carefully handle it while it cools, you can form it into a number of shapes.

To make Parmesan cannolis, the procedure is exactly the same, except you’ll simply wrap the still-hot Parmesan disk around a 1-inch diameter dowel. Cones can be made in a similar way.

The Lolly Pops are perhaps the easiest, for these. You’ll need to purchase wooden Popsicle/craft sticks (tongue depressors can also work).

Whatever cheese you might need to make a 5-inch diameter, sprinkle only half of it into the pan/mat. Then, place the stick on top in a way that you’ll have a part of it in the cheese and the rest as a handle. Spread the remaining half over the stick and around within the disk’s shape, in effect sandwiching the stick between both Parmesan applications.
Cook as you would otherwise, and then let the Lolly Pop cool lying flat.

Corkscrews are made by applying a straight line of cheese approximately ¾ inch wide by 6 inches to 8 inches long. You’ll want the cheese to be a bit heavier, so there is very little webbing. Once the cheese is cooked, wrap it over a ½-inch diameter dowel (at an angle) to create a corkscrew shape. Sticks are created the same way without wrapping them around a dowel. Just let them cool flat.

Lastly, chards are simply irregular 2-inch to 3-inch
patches of cheese you can bake crisp and use for salad garnishes. Alternately, you can cook a large crisp and break it into pieces.

Try one of these tasty garnishment ideas for your next important dinner and let us know how they work out for you. I hope you have great success.