The other day I was all gung-ho to make parmesan tuiles.  The recipe was from a trusted name in the cooking industry but as I was dishing out the ingredients, something inside me was saying the quantities, oven temperature and method seemed off.  But, because it was from a trusted source, I shrugged off my gut instinct and carried on. Well, that was a big mistake.  The parmesan tuiles ended up floppy like a crepe and way too much butter melted on the baking tray!  The flavour of the tuiles was good but the texture was awful.

Tuile (pronounced tweel) is a French word for tile and is a thin, crisp cookie with a lacy texture.  They can be sweet or savoury.  The recipe did not reflect that even though the picture in the cookbook illustrated it was crisp and thin looking.  I can understand how cooks can be put off when a recipe doesn’t live up to its photo.  But, mistakes in the kitchen can guide us along another path leaving behind a failed recipe and trying something new (like I did).  It also helps to ask anyone in your cooking sphere to see what they would do.

Use this recipe as a guide and create your own with herbs or spices or just bake the parmesan au naturel.  Click here to see the parmesan tuiles being cooked from scratch.

makes 12
2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon minced olives
1 tablespoon minced sun-dried tomatoes
2 teaspoons dried oregano

Preheat oven to 400ºf (200°c).

In a bowl, combine ingredients.  On a parchment-lined baking sheet, add roughly 2 teaspoons of the cheese mixture.  Make sure there is at least one inch between each tuile. Bake until the cheese melts into bubbly lacy disks, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest a couple of minutes before transferring to a wire rack lined with paper towel.  Alternatively, when straight out of the oven shape quickly by bending over a rolling pin.  Cool and store in an airtight container until serving.

The Culinary Chase’s Note:  Make larger tuiles by increasing the amount of cheese mixture and use as a base to hold appetizers or individual salads.  To get this shape, when hot out of the oven, use a metal spatula and drape over a small bowl.  Allow to cool before using.  Enjoy!