The name grana comes from the word grain, and Padano refers to the valley around the Po River where it is produced. Grana Padano is a hard cow’s milk cheese that is cooked and aged slowly and is made in the Italian regions of Lombardy, Piedmont, and the Veneto.
I use it as a grating cheese, for fillings in pasta (like my Pasta with American Amatriciana Sauce), and shaved onto salads. I also like to use it on baked vegetables. I also like to add Grana Padano rinds to my soups and serve chunks of different ages of it with seasonal fruit and toasted bread.
Nicotra Kitchen 