Can You Add Cheese Rinds to Soup or Sauce?

First, identify what the rind is. As hard cheeses age, their outer surfaces dry and form a natural rind made from the cheese itself; this rind continues with the same texture as the cheese and is porous. Some cheeses are instead covered on the outside with paraffin, wax, or plastic. This coating is shiny and flexible and clearly separates from the cheese as a layer. Only the natural rind goes into the pot. The coating melts or softens with heat and mixes into the food, so cut it off the cheese and discard it.

The natural rind is the part of the cheese that has aged the longest and dried out the most. Its flavor is more concentrated than the inside of the cheese, but its texture is too hard and dry to eat. Heat and moisture soften the rind and draw its flavor compounds into the liquid. That is why, as the rind simmers in soup or sauce, it gives the dish a cheesy, deep, salty flavor without adding grated cheese. Vegetable soup, bean soup, and tomato sauce benefit the most from this flavor.

Add the rind to the pot at the very beginning of cooking. If a piece is large, cut it in 2 to increase the surface area. Stir occasionally as it simmers, because softened rind tends to stick to the bottom of the pot. Once the rind softens and its edges start to break apart, it has released most of its flavor; remove it with a spoon at this point. The rind does not dissolve completely in water, so do not expect it to melt away. Taste the dish from time to time while the rind is in the pot; remove it sooner if the flavor is strong enough. If you plan to blend the dish, always remove the rind first, or hard pieces will spread through the food.

Cheese rind is salty and releases salt into the dish. For this reason, do not salt a dish cooked with rind at the beginning. After removing the rind and bringing the dish to its final consistency, taste it and add more salt if needed; often very little or none is needed. If the dish also contains other salty ingredients such as cheese, olives, or tomato paste, their effects add up. The rule does not change: add salt last and by tasting, because you can add more salt if needed, but you cannot take excess salt back out.

Clean the rind before adding it to the pot. Scrape the outside with the back of a knife; if a label, stamped ink, or dirty layer remains on it, remove a thin layer. Do not use a moldy rind for this; what to do when mold is found on cheese is a separate issue. You can collect rinds as you use the cheese in a bag and use a few pieces together for a pot of soup; clean the rinds before putting them in the bag. Do not serve the rind; check that no pieces remain in the pot before serving the dish.