Hard Italian cheese (8)
I believe the answer is:
parmesan
'hard italian cheese' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
This is the entire clue.
(Other definitions for parmesan that I've seen before include "Hard dry Italian cheese" , "Cheese for grating" , "Italian 8 across" , "Hard dry cheese, often grated" , "Italian cheese, often grated" .)