Imagine this cheese lazily boiling in a cast iron pot in the middle of the table, and this soft focaccia dipping into the mixture and coming out steaming hot... Yum! It makes our mouths water just thinking about it. That's the secret to our favorite comfort food recipe, to surprise our guests and enjoy ourselves.
A little clarification before we start: the Italian fondue requires two preparation steps. First, the focaccia, which replaces the bread, and then the cheese mixture.
The focaccia
This is more of an additional tip from an Italian cooking enthusiast than a true obligation. You can just as well make this recipe with bread. But since we're indulging in Italian cuisine, let's do things right.
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- 250 g of flour
- 12 g of fresh baker's yeast
- a pinch of salt
- 5 cl of olive oil
- 15 cl of water
- thyme, oregano, rosemary branches
- 3 pinch of fleur de sel
Preparation:
- Crumble the fresh yeast into a little warm water taken from the 15 cl. Let it rest for 10 minutes.
- Add the remaining water and 4 cl of olive oil.
- Cover the mixture with the flour and fine salt.
- Knead for 15 minutes, let it rest for 5 minutes, knead again for 15 minutes.
- Cover the dough with a film and refrigerate overnight (around 12 hours).
- Letting the dough rise in the fridge is the secret to success.
- Take the dough out of the fridge, flatten it with a rolling pin to get a rectangle of about 2 cm thick.
- Remove the leaves from the herbs and arrange them on the dough, pushing them in a little (these will be the holes of the focaccia).
- Let it rise for 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Pour the remaining olive oil into the holes.
- Bake for about 20 minutes
The fondue
Forget about gruyère or tome : here we're talking about mozzarella di buffala, Parmigiano Reggiano, and Italian alcohol.
Ingredients (for 4 people):
- 350 ml of dry and fruity white wine
- 1 clove of garlic
- 300 g of fontina cheese
- 300 g of grated or powdered Parmesan cheese
- 250 g of buffalo mozzarella
- 2 tablespoons of grappa
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of chopped basil
Preparation:
- Rub the inside of the pan with the peeled garlic clove.
- Place the pan on low heat and pour in the white wine. When it is hot, add the pieces of cheese to melt them.
- Stir with a wooden spoon, then add the grappa. Continue stirring until you have a smooth mixture.
- Once the mixture is smooth and creamy, add the basil and olive oil.
- Place the pan in the center of the table, on top of a burner or flame.
It's ready, enjoy!
