I succumbed to some ready made Parmesan Crisps and they were terrible, all rubbery and flavorless. It was a poor choice on my part. I can do better and so can you!
Ingredients:
1 cup grated Parmesan
Seasonings - optional
Toss the cheese with any seasonings you'd like -- garlic, hot pepper powder, rosemary, thyme, or even cinnamon. You can leave them plain too if whatever you are serving them with is flavorful. You can even add things like minced green pepper, shredded carrot, bacon bits…. experiment.
Pile 1 to 4 Tablespoons of cheese (depending on the size you want) on a greased baking sheet or one covered with parchment paper oiled on both sides (my choice). Flatten the tops so they are in more or less an even pile. There should be at least two inches between smaller mounds, 4 inches between larger ones. Another version is to just pile all the cheese together and after it is baked you can just break it into pieces.
If you want to mold the crisps into a shape, the thing to do is to "drape" them while still warm. You can make cups by draping over an upturned glass, or "taco shell" shapes by draping over any cylindrical object that is at hand, such as a rolling pin or the side of a straight-sided glass.
Note on type of cheese: You can use any kind of hard cheese, but the results will be different depending on the type. Hard cheeses, such as Parmesan, Romano, and Asagio will make the best crisps. DO NOT use the powdery fake stuff that comes in a can. You can use pre grated parmesan and sometimes they turn out better than fresh grated. When I use fresh grated (usually) I let is sit spread on a plate for about a half hour to 'dry' it a bit. Ever since I read that they put wood fiber in pre-grated cheese products to keep it from clumping (really! read the label!) I have a hard time buying it. Never say never, but not often...