For the tomato sauce.
Simply place the Grana Padano rind pieces into the sauce at an early stage of the cooking time. Let it simmer gently while the sauce cooks and intensify its flavour. After about 30 minutes, the rind would have softened and could be eaten in chunks, and the tomato sauce would be thicker and rich in cheese flavour.
Bear in mind, the rind cooked this way it is a little chewy, but nevertheless delicious.
You can use about 100 gr of rind for 600 gr of tomato sauce.
This process can be applied to many other pasta sauces, including ragù Bolognese.
Chef’s tip
Scrape off the first layer of the rind with a grated or the back of the knife and you can even rinse it. Remember to pat dry it well or even better let it dry in an open container in the fridge overnight.
If really hard and old, I soak my Grana Padano rind in water for a few hours to soften up before using it.