Cheese crisps are generally thin wafers or boat-like baskets made from various oven baked cheeses. Cheese crisp wafers are often served as an appetizer or garnish for soup or stews. The basket-shaped version can hold salads, dips, spreads or other complementary ingredients.

In Italy, cheese crisps are called frico, which are traditionally thin, crispy, lace-like wafers approximately 3-4 inches (7-10 cm) in diameter and made of Montasio cheese. To make crisps, a firm to hard grated cheese is required. Suitable cheeses include Asiago, Kefalotiri, Montasio or Parmesan-Reggiano. Other recipes use Swiss or Romano cheese.

The cheese selected often affects the results. The Kefalotiri is a semi-firm Greek cheese that tends to form irregular shaped wafers with holes. Other ingredients such as seasoning, herbs or bits of bacon or pepperoni are sometimes added for extra flavor.

To make cheese crisps, select a firm to hard cheese and slice it into very thin slices (less than 1/8 inch (0.32 cm) thick). Place the slices on a baking sheet allowing space for the crisps to spread. Some cooks prefer to line the baking sheet with a silicone liner.

Bake for approximately four minutes in preheated 400° F (224° C) oven. The crisps are done when light golden and bubbly. Use a spatula to remove from the baking sheet and cool the crisps on a wire rack. Prepare a test batch of cheese crisps when using a new cheese to verify desired results.

Other cheese crisp recipes create larger, pancake-like crisps. The larger, lacy-textured wafers are served either whole or broken into free-form pieces. Cooked in a hot skillet, these crisps still contain very few ingredients: cheese, a small amount of flour and either pepper, rosemary or oregano for seasoning.

Some recipes recommend melting butter in the skillet, others do not recommend any added fat. To create the basket like cheese crisps, allow the cooked cheese to cool around a rolling pin suspended between two tall cans or drape it over an inverted custard cup.

It’s also possible to prepare cheese crisps in the microwave. Instead of slices of cheese, arrange cubes at least 2 inches (5 cm) apart on a piece of cooking parchment inside the microwave. Cook on full power approximately 1-2 minutes, rotating parchment unless your microwave has a turntable, until cheese is melted, bubbling and slightly darkened. Allow to cool and harden on parchment, approximately 2 minutes, before removing from paper.