Created out of necessity in the 15th century when people had few ingredients on hand, frico was created as a clever way to repurpose leftover cheese rinds known as strissulis. Frico is a traditional dish of Carnia, a region of Friuli Venezia Giulia in northeast Italy. Using the leftover scraps of Montasio, a locally produced cheese, frico is a no-frills, essential and straightforward dish that was once a substantial meal for woodcutters and shepherds.
There are two popular versions of the dish, one soft and the other thin. Soft frico is usually served in slices and thin frico is crunchy and can be used either as a garnish or as an appetizer. Soft frico is prepared with a high-fat cheese such as Montasio, which has a mild, delicate, somewhat fruity and grassy flavor similar to Swiss and Asiago. The Montasio cheese is combined with other ingredients such as potatoes, onions, and sometimes other leftover vegetables.
While Montasio is the typical cheese used for frico, other cheeses such as Asiago cheese or even mixtures of cheeses might be used. The potatoes and onions are thinly sliced and cooked in a large frying pan with butter or olive oil. An equal amount of shredded cheese is added to the pan, and then the mixture is pressed to form a thin cake. It is cooked until the cheese melts and becomes crisp and golden brown. The cake is then carefully flipped over to brown the other side.
Soft frico is basically a cheese and potato pie—crispy on the outside and soft and gooey on the inside. The soft frico is then cut into wedges and often served with polenta and a glass of red wine or as a garnish for soups and stews. The dish is best served hot, while the cheese is still melted, stringy and gooey.
Thin and crisp frico are a deliciously simple Italian snack that are made with just one ingredient. To make thin frico, a thin layer of shredded cheese is added on a frying pan until the cheese becomes malleable and slightly crispy. As long as the frico remains warm, it can be molded into baskets, bowls or other decorative containers for food. Once cooled, the cheese becomes deliciously crisp.
Thin frico can be used as an elegant garnish, served as a snack or offered as an appetizer before an Italian meal. In Italy, frico are traditionally made with Montasio cheese, but other cheeses, such as cheddar, Asiago and Parmesan, produce excellent results.
After being brined and salted, Montasio is aged for a minimum of 60 days (and up to more than 18 months), allowing the flavors to intensify over time. The flavor of frico changes significantly depending on the aging time of cheese used in its preparation; frico made with fresco and mezzano is not as intense as the one prepared with stagionato or stravecchio.
Like with many other popular traditional recipes, many varieties of frico exist, so it can be additionally enriched with other ingredients such as pancetta, mushrooms or tomatoes.