Even More Fondue!

More fondue! To ring in the new year (now that we are all back in NYC), Becca, Alyx and Nicholas came over for dinner.  Alyx made two fantastic loaves of bread (I believe it was a recipe from Jim Lahey) for us to eat with our fondue.

I made a three cheese fondue...and this time the special ingredient was a tomato onion chutney.  In addition to Alyx's crusty and just slightly salty bread, we also dipped tortellini! So YUM!


Fondue guests inspecting the goods

Three-Cheese Fondue with Tomato Onion Chutney, adapted from Gourmet Magazine

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound of gruyere, grated
• 1/2 pound of Emmenthal, grated
• 1/2 pound vacherin at room temperature, diced
• 2+ tbsp. of cornstarch
• 1 garlic clove, halved
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
• 2 tbsp. calvados
• 1/3 cup of tomato onion chutney, recipe as follows:
• 2 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 3 1/2 tbsp. unsalted butter
• a 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes
• 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1/8 tsp. ground allspice

First prepare the chutney, as that will need more time to simmer/cook:

In a skillet, melt the butter and add the onions, cooking until they are golden brown.  Add the tomatoes, the vinegar, the sugar, and the allspice, stirring occasionally.  Turn the heat down to simmer and let the mixture cook until thickened.  

To prepare the fondue: 

Boil the pasta per the package instructions.  We drained the pasta and sauteed them so they wouldn't be too soft and would hopefully stick onto the fondue "fork" thing.  

In a large bowl, toss together the cheese and the cornstarch. Rub the inside of the a pot with the garlic halves, leaving it in the pan afterwards. Add the wine, 3/4 cup of the water, and the lemon juice and boil for about a minute.  

Turn the heat down to medium, and slowly stir in the cheese mixture making sure to stir thoroughly with each addition.  Stir the calvados into the mixture.  Swirl in the chutney, and transfer to a fondue pot.

Serve with (home made) bread and tortellini! 

Ending Notes: I'm getting more spoiled with each ingredient I experiment with.  The mushroom fondues I made in earlier posts were delicious, and this one was also excellent, though with an entirely different flavor.  The tortellini and savory tomato cheese combination were a great match together - almost like getting a pasta dish at an Italian restaurant! WIN! I am pretty sure we were licking the fondue pot clean.