By SARAH MOHAMED
The Ingredient Giada De Laurentiis Adds To Store-Bought Pasta Sauce
Store-bought pasta sauce may taste good, but it often lacks depth of flavor. That’s why celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis drops a parmesan rind into the sauce as she heats it.
The rind has a higher concentration of mold and bacteria than the rest of the cheese, so it adds some strong umami notes while also improving the texture by adding a silky touch.
All cheese rinds are safe to eat, but not all of them will work in your sauce. For example, cheeses with bloomy rinds, like brie or camembert, are too soft to endure the simmering.
Some longer-aged, low-moisture, washed-rind cheeses, like gruyère, will work. Others may be too bold, earthy, or funky for the tomato sauce, and many of them are also too soft.
Parmesan has a natural rind like aged cheddar or Mimolette. Other natural rind cheeses, like pecorino, grana padano, asiago, or manchego, will also work, but the flavors will vary.