Grate it.....it's wonderful...just lost moisture.
And when you get it grated down into small enough chunks....toss those chunks into a pot of tomato sauce or a pot of minestrone soup....wonderful!
If you don'tw ant to take the trouble to grate it, saw it into little pieces to save for soup.
Linda C

I agree with Linda C..nothing wrong with it..
Microplane will make quick work of it..easier than a box grater, or other grater with round holes.

Jim:
Put it in a good Zip Loc bag.
If you have a small Cosmetic Sponge, soak it with vinegar,
place it in the bag but
not touching the cheese. Leave it as long as you can.

You can do this to keep Cheese fresh also.
Or wrap the sponge in a Nylon Net ( the kind some vegetables are in.)
to keep it from touching the Cheese.

You don't necessarily have to use a Cosmetic Sponge.
Any clean fine sponge will do.

Lou

Good advice, folks. Thanks.

This stuff is really *hard*. Since I haven't yet acquired a microplane, I will try to soften it first with Lou's method. I trust his knowledge about this.

I'll also try small chunks in minestrone. That sounds good. I make a mean minestrone.

Jim

Jim, if you can break it into smaller chunks, throw it into your food processor and let it grate it with the blade (not the grater disc). It works great like that!!

Lori :D

With good results -I soak cheesecloth in water - ring out until damp - wrap the hard Parm in damp cheescolth - wrap in wax paper -reseal in ziplock - put in crisper in frig for a few days. Remove the cheesecloth when the cheese has absorbed the moisture.

Hi Jim: Thank you for the trust. Some of the other methods are good.
I forgot to mention , if it is a very large piece, Cut it a little smaller.
The moisture will be absorbed faster.

I've been keeping Cheese fresh; like this, since the late 50's.

You can also put pieces of the hard cheese in your Spaghetti Sauce ( Gravy )
While simmering . Great flavor!!!
Let me know how you made out.
Lou

Lou, that's some really old cheese! :-)

Denise: Right!!! The flavor is really great after 50 years.

The first time I tried REAL parmesan (as opposed to the green shaker container) was 20+ yrs ago. The piece I purchased turned out to be at least as hard as Jim's. It was so resilient that even my VitaMix couldn't chip any corners off it. I assumed it was petrified. I'm sure I pitched it and it turned me off the good stuff for a long while.

One of the things I love about my microplane is that it can manage the hardest parm so I've never had to soften it. I'm sure you'll have good luck with the methods above.

I always throw the rind of my parm into my pasta sauce it adds a wonderful depth of flavour. Never done that with minestrone but will next time , bet it's delicious.

I have a grater attachment on my KA mixer, and it will grate the hardest rind of Parmesan. A microplane works also, but takes a lot of effort compared to the mixer.

Lars