Grana Padano DOP – Denominazione di Origine Protetta
Exported all over the world, tasted alone or grinded on pasta and risotto or used for stuffing or sauces. Grana Padano DOP has the proud to be one of the best known Italian cheeses, sold and appreciated in Italy and abroad.
The production area encloses different provinces divided between Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia Romagna, Trentino Alto Adige and Piedmont. All the companies that produce milk and the working of cheese are registered and checked carefully by the Consorzio di Tutela, that guarantees the label of Denominazione di Origine Protetta.
How to recognize Grana Padano DOP
Seasoning between 9 and 16 months: the result is a delicate cheese where stands out the taste of milk that make it perfect as a cheese for meal, to eat alone but also grated. The dough is soft with a straw yellow colour.
Seasoning more than 16 months: it becomes tasty, but not spicy, with an aroma that reminds dried fruit and hay. It is perfect to be grated on risotto, pasta and sauces to which it gives a great taste, even if it is possible to eat it pure. The colour is a strong straw yellow, the dough is rough, highlighting the calcium crystals and it is easy to cut it into flakes.
Riserva version, seasoning more than 20 months: the taste is rich and full with a fragrant aroma and delicate with notes of butter, hay and dried fruit. The dough is rough with visible calcium crystals and a flake structure. The colour is intense straw yellow. Grana Padano Riserva is a cheese with a strong taste, perfect if ate pure or grated on polished and gourmet dishes.
How to recognize Grana Padano DOP? It is sufficient to look at the shell, the real Grana Padano checked by the Consortium that respect the criteria of quality defined by the Code of Conduct has to be branded with the symbol with the same name, besides the brands of origin and selection.
How to taste Grana Padano in the best way?
We suggest you an elegant, tasty recipe, easy to replicate, to taste Grana Padano in the best way.
Fettuccine with tomatoes, fava beans and fondue of Grana Padano
Peel the fava beans and cook in boiling water for 5 minutes, drain and place in a pan with oil, garlic and peeled tomato, cut in dices. Sear for a minute. In the meantime cook the fettuccine, melt 50 g of Grana Padano in bain-marie with a glass of milk up to it becomes creamy and without lumps. Drain the pasta and sear in a pan with fava beans and tomatoes. Set the dish placing a spoon of fondue on the bottom of the dish and the fettuccine on it. Sprinkle with pepper and serve.
