Yes, it is fabulous atop pizza and pasta but there are many more delicious ways to use Parmesan.

• Chef Doug Borkowski uses Parmesan rinds as the flavorful foundation for broths destined for meat braises, soups and sauces. Add the rinds to chicken stock or water and simmer gently for an hour or so before removing.
  
  
• Currently on Borkowski’s menu is a soul-satisfying dish of polenta topped with sage brown butter and Parmesan.
  
  
• Author and cheese expert Jeanette Hurt favors simple crostini of Italian bread, sliced, rubbed with cut garlic, drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil and topped with grated Parmesan. A few minutes under the broiler or on the grill renders the toasts deliciously guest ready.
  
  
• A swivel-bladed vegetable peeler turns out delicate, paper-thin curls of Parmesan that add a graceful note to grilled vegetables such as asparagus, fennel, Brussels sprouts and eggplant. Salads, too, benefit from the same treatment, especially those made with boldly flavored greens such as arugula and radicchio.
  
  
• Shower the top of soups with finely grated Parmesan, either solo or mixed with minced fresh herbs such as rosemary, basil or Italian parsley.
  
  
• In his new cookbook, “My New Orleans,” chef John Besh offers this formula for “sawdust,” an amped-up crumb topping for pasta. Chop to a medium-fine texture: ½ cup day-old Italian bread crumbs, ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan, 2 tablespoons each of dried currants and toasted pine nuts, 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes and a pinch each of cinnamon, fresh oregano and salt.