Tomato & cheese fondue

So we went skiing a few weeks ago and I bet you've been drooling over that gorgeous picture of the Swiss Alps ever since! Well, here's one that's bound to set your juices flowing even more... we stayed at our friends' house who happen to own a chalet directly on the piste - no excuses not to put on your skis there, even if you've had a rough night! On Saturday, we stumbled down the hill for a well-deserved cheese fondue after a day of skiing. Now, I've had fondues before, Chris makes a mean one, I have to say and I have even posted a recipe for it a while ago. Our version used to involve bread on sticks and penalties when you lost your bit in the pot and it was a simple recipe only with cheese & wine. That night in Verbier, I was introduced to a fondue where you ladle the cheese over boiled potatoes (skin on) and they had lots of different flavours as well: blue cheese, green peppercorn, mushrooms, pears etc. We tried the "fondue à la tomate" which was delicious and has overtaken Chris' in popularity now, since it is somehow lighter than our version. Not sure why, but the tomatoes seem to make it more digestible, as that night, for the first time, I did not feel completely stuffed when I finally made it into bed... and that's without participating in the schnaps drinking competition the guys pulled off - "purely for medicinal purposes", of course!

Tomato & cheese fondue
(serves 3-4)

750 g new potatoes
1 clove garlic (crushed)
1 can chopped tomatoes (ca. 450 g)
200 g Comte (grated)
200 g Gruyere (grated)
200 g Reblochon (rind removed, cut into smallish pieces)
200 ml dry white wine (we used a Riesling from Alsace)
1 tsp maizena (cornstarch)
freshly crushed black pepper
parsley, to garnish

Cook the potatoes (skin on) until tender. In the meantime, heat a tiny amount of oil in your fondue pan and fry the garlic until starting to brown. Add the tomatoes, reserving 3 tbsp of the juice. Stir and cook until the tomatoes are very hot. Pour in the wine, then gradually add the cheeses. Let the cheeses melt slowly and cook for about 10 minutes, to achieve quite an onctuous consistency. Stir the maizena in with the tomato juice and add to the fondue, combine well.
Serve the melted cheese ladled over the boiled potatoes, sprinkled with black pepper and decorated with some parsley leaves.

Comments

[ejm]

Our version of cheese fondue has always been with bread and sticks too. This version poured over potatoes sounds really good! And it's not too tomatoey?

Blue cheese over pears!! I bet that would be fabulous!

-Elizabeth