Parmesan Cheese

[Mary]

Can parmesan cheese be substituted by ordinary cheese?

 

[Mr_Dove]

I would guess no, but it really depends on how much of a component the parmesean cheese is in a recipe. If its small enough you could even leave it out alltogether without noticing a huge flavor difference.

BUT, parmesean cheese is very different from regular chedder cheese. It is much dryer and has a very different flavor.

 

[jkath]

First off, Welcome to DiscussCooking, Mary! It's so nice to have you on board!
As for your question, it depends on your recipe.
If it calls for FRESH parmesan, you will get the true flavor and consistency, which is kind of hard to duplicate with another cheese. Possibly romano would be the only thing I'd use as a substitute. Softer, more ordinary cheese, like cheddar, jack, mozzerella, etc, are not even a close match.
If it calls for POWDERED (like the stuff in the green can) you can use a mixture of romano and fine bread crumbs. Unfortunately, that stuff is also really salty, so you may need to increase your salt in the recipe.

What is your recipe? Maybe we can help you with the substitutions.

 

[Mary]

I wanna cook "carbonara." Carbonara it contains only 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese.

 

[jkath]

Here's the recipe I use:

Spaghetti Carbonara

4 Tbsp oil
1/2 lb. bacon, cut into small pieces
2 cloves minced fresh garlic
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. dried oregano leaves
1 lb. spaghetti
3 beaten eggs
1/2 c. grated Romano cheese
1/4 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat.
Add bacon, garlic, pepper and oregano. Cook, stirring as needed, until the garlic is golden and the bacon is on the crisp side. Remove from heat. While the sauce is cooking, boil the pasta according to package directions. Drain and put onto a heatproof platter. Gently stir in the eggs, then the bacon sauce and Romano cheese. Sprinkle with the mozzarella and place under the broiler for a few minutes or till cheese is melted but not browned.

(Ps - yes, the eggs do cook )

 

[Mary]

um... how about "no" eggs added?

 

[jkath]

I checked with other recipes I had, as well as a couple of online ones, and they all have egg. Most use the method I do, however, I found one where you "cook" the eggs with the bacon (or pancetta) and garlic for 3-4 minutes in a saucepan and then you stir it into the pasta. You can try it without the eggs, but perhaps add a little something, like possibly cream instead.

 

[ironchef]

Can parmesan cheese be substituted by ordinary cheese?

The only acceptible substitutes that you can use which would give a similar taste to parmesan would be:

• Grana Padano (Cow's Milk Chese; cheaper alternative to Parmigiano-Reggiano)
• Pecorino (Sheep's Milk Cheese; Most common and cheapest is Pecorino Romano)

Whatever you do, buy your cheese in block form and grate it yourself as you need it. Don't buy the pre-grated stuff or you won't get the same flavor.

 

[IcyMist]

I always use to use the green canned stuff until someone at another site convinced me to try the fresh grated. Boy am I glad I did, I can sit there and nibble on the fresh parm just like regular cheese. What a wonderful nutty flavor.

 

[Rob Babcock]

I'd suggest you not omit the parm in carbonara- it does add a lot of the taste. But the egg is totally optional, IMO. I've created several eggless carbonara dishes in the restaurants I've worked in, and all have turned out well. I feel the only things you really have to have are bacon, onions, cream & parm- anything else is optional to some degree. I do like garlic and roma tomatoes in mine. And I like bowtie pasta best.

 

[Mary]

Thanks, people!

 

[ironchef]

Also, traditional carbonara has a good amount of fresh cracked pepper. The reason for the eggs in the sauce is because it was served as a breakfast dish for miners who worked the coal mines. The specks of black pepper was supposed to be reminiscent of coal.

 

[Claire]

I live in cheese land and have often found lovely cheeses that work in place of parm. It isn't the same, mind you, but it is fun to experiment. You need a very dry, hard, and somewhat strong cheese. The main thing is to look for aged cheeses. A local cheese maker used to make an aged swiss that was wonderful in recipes calling for parm. Many of our local cheesemakers experiment with aged hard cheeses, and when we find them, we support them as much as we can. I have used egg beaters for carbonara (we simply don't eat a lot of eggs, so I often don't have them on hand, while egg beaters can be sitting there). You don't have to worry about the cooking issue; they're safe to eat as is since they're pasturized. I also took to using them in egg nog when we lived at a location where there was a problem. Now Hubby always uses egg beaters and his nog is always a popular feature. But it is always fun to experiment with new products. I recently used a Spanish hard cheese made with whole peppercorns in place of parm in a recipe, and it was to die for. When grated that pepper flavor was wonderful.

 

[auntdot]

I have sure learned a lot from all of you with this thread, as usual.

When I thought of carbonara it usually brought to mind the basic eggs, bacon, and parm recipe.

Then, when someone mentioned cream, I thought of what I used to consider an Alfredo type sauce, with the butter, flour, cream, and parm.

Then I did some Googling and found a bunch of recipes between the bare basic carbonara sauce and Alfredo.

Seems that there are many variations on the theme.

Thanks for all the recipes and ideas. I now have a whole lot of interesting places to go when I think of pasta.

 

[Mary]

Here's a simple and delicious recipe of Pasta Carbonara.

PASTA CARBONARA

4-6 bacon slices, diced
3 tbsp. chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 c. heavy cream
8 oz. thin spaghetti or fettucine
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp. ground pepper
2 tbsp. chopped parsley
Optional additions: Sauteed boneless chicken, mushrooms

In large skillet over medium heat, cook bacon about 3 minutes or until limp. Add onion; cook 3-5 minutes longer or until bacon is browned, stirring occasionally. Add garlic, cook 30 seconds. Drain all but 1 tablespoon bacon fat from skillet. Stir in cream; bring just to boiling point. Reduce heat to low and simmer 3 minutes. Keep warm.
Add cooked spaghetti, Parmesan cheese, pepper and parsley to cream mixture. Toss to coat spaghetti well. Serves 4-6. Prep time: about 10 minutes. Cooking time: 10-15 minutes.

 

[kitchenelf]

I like claire's idea of trying different hard cheeses - what's the worst that can happen???? lol I just had a 3-year old Gouda - OMG it was heaven. Nice and hard like Parmesan but yellow/orange. I think however you make it - with or without eggs, with pancetta instead of bacon, with fresh Parmesan or fresh locatelli it will be good.