Description

A classic cheese fondue recipe, perfectly portioned for a fun and romantic date night at home!

If you’re nervous to make fondue at home, don’t be – it’s a seriously simple process with minimal ingredients required. For this recipe, 3 types of cheese slowly melt into a garlicky white wine sauce, creating an irresistibly rich and creamy fondue. Refer to the blog post, above, for some fondue troubleshooting tips.

Pair your cheese fondue with your favorite dippers for an easy-yet-special Valentine’s Day or cozy date night in!

Ingredients

Scale

for the cheese fondue:

1 clove garlic, sliced in half lengthwise
1 ¼ cups dry, unoaked white wine such as Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio, divided
1 tablespoon cornstarch
4 ounces gruyere cheese, freshly grated
4 ounces gouda or edam cheese, freshly grated
4 ounces aged cheddar cheese, freshly grated
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ lemon, juiced (approx. 1 tablespoon)

for dipping:

2-3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
10-12 baby potatoes (approx. 6 ounces)
big handful broccoli or cauliflower florets (approx. 6 ounces)
2 medium carrots (approx. 6 ounces), peeled and diced into 1-inch cubes
2 links fully-cooked chicken sausage, sliced into 1-inch pieces
2 thick slices Italian bread (approx. 2 ounces), sliced into 1-inch cubes
4 ounces bite-size salami
kosher salt and ground black pepper, to season

Instructions

For the Fondue Dippers:

Prep: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F, ensuring a rack is positioned in the center of the oven. Line a large baking sheet with parchment or foil, for easy cleanup as desired. Gather and prep ingredients according to Ingredients List, above. [gallery columns="2" size="full" ids="25791,25794"]
Roast the hardy vegetables: Add the baby potatoes, broccoli or cauliflower florets, and carrots to a large bowl. Drizzle 2 tablespoons olive oil over top, seasoning with a good pinch kosher salt and ground black pepper as desired. Toss to coat. Place the seasoned vegetables to the prepared baking sheet, arranging them such that they have room to roast evenly. Transfer to the oven to roast for 10 minutes.
Add the sausage and bread: Working one at a time, add the chicken sausage and bread to the same bowl used to season the vegetables. Toss to lightly coat in any residual olive oil in the bowl. If needed, add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Once the hardy vegetables have roasted 10 minutes, remove the baking sheet from the oven. Carefully add the seasoned sausage and bread to the baking sheet with the vegetables, arranging everything such that it has room to roast evenly. Transfer back to the oven to roast an additional 10-15 minutes, or until everything is fork-tender and browned as desired. Remove from the oven and transfer to a board or small plates and bowls for serving. Set aside.

For the Cheese Fondue:

Prepare the pot and reduce the wine: Meanwhile, as the dippers roast, prepare the fondue. Rub the inside of a small pot or saucepan with the garlic clove, cut side down, then place the garlic in the pot with 1 cup of the wine. Place the pot over medium-high heat, bringing the wine to a boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced roughly by half, about 8-10 minutes. Meanwhile, as the wine reduces, create a cornstarch slurry by whisking the cornstarch into the remaining ¼ cup wine. Once the wine is reduced, reduce the heat under the pot to medium low. Remove the garlic and add in the cornstarch slurry. Let the mixture simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 2-3 minutes longer.
Melt the cheese into the fondue: Reduce the heat under the pot to low – the wine mixture is steaming hot but not bubbling. Add a handful of the cheese to the pot, stirring constantly to melt the cheese throughout the wine mixture. Continue adding cheese to the fondue one handful at a time, stirring constantly and allowing each addition to melt completely before adding more. As you work, decrease heat as needed to avoid bringing the fondue to a simmer. The goal is to gently and gradually melt the cheese into a thick, glossy cheese sauce.
Finish the cheese fondue: Once all of the cheese is melted, taste and adjust seasoning as desired. If the fondue tastes a little one-note, stirring in some Dijon mustard or lemon juice will help brighten and balance the flavors. If the fondue seems too thick, add in another splash or two of wine, stirring to combine well.
Serve: Once the cheese fondue is prepared to your liking, transfer it to a fondue pot. Serve immediately, with your prepared dippers. Enjoy!

Notes

Fondue Date Night Tips: Since date night is about spending time together, we encourage you to really embrace it. Invite your partner into the kitchen with you and have fun prepping your fondue spread together. Despite the fact that Chris and I have vastly different levels of skill and comfort in the kitchen, we’ve found a ‘divide and conquer’ approach to fondue prep works really well for us. Here’s how we do it…
- Person 1 ⇢ Dippers Prep! Delegate prepping the fondue dippers to whoever is more comfortable in the kitchen. There’s a little more multi-tasking and knife work involved, so it’s best to let the more confident cook step in and own this process.
- Person 2 ⇢ Fondue Prep! Fondue prep is great for a slightly less confident cook. Grating the fondue cheese blend and stirring the cheeses into the fondue are both very straightforward processes – anyone can do it!
Timing it all out…
- Person 2 can begin reducing the wine after Person 1 pops the veggies in the oven.
- Use the downtime as the veggies roast and the wine reduces to prep any additional dippers (Person 1) and grate the cheese (Person 2).
- By the time Person 1 pops the second round of dippers in the oven, it will be time for Person 2 to begin melting the cheese in the fondue. Person 1 can use this time to help Person 2 with fondue prep or begin clean up.
- The dippers should be ready to pull from the oven just as cheese fondue is ready to pull from the stove. At this point, pour yourselves a glass of wine and dive right into your Fondue for Two!