Brace yourselves for possibly the easiest appetizer you’ll ever come across. I’d say this recipe is even easier than putting together a cheese platter because there is no agonizing over what cheeses to buy – wait…am I the only on who agonizes over things like this? Anyway, for this baked fontina, you’ll cube some Italian fontina, chop some garlic and herbs, put everything in a cast iron pan, and pop it under the broiler for 6 minutes. That’s it! The result is a baked fondue of cheesy goodness that you can scoop up with hunks of bread, toasted sliced bread, or even crackers or Wheat Thins. The garlic and herbs permeate throughout the cheese when it bakes and every bite has a blast of herby flavor. It’s heaven…melted cheese heaven.
I made this for a Christmas Day appetizer last year, have made it a couple times since (a halved recipe in an 8″ cast iron pan), and I’ll be making it again for a Thanksgiving appetizer this year; it’s always a huge hit wherever I bring it. Whether you’re hosting turkey day and want to work this into your menu or you plan to bring this to someone’s house, cube the cheese and chop the garlic and herbs in advance and keep them in airtight containers until you’re ready to bake. Bring your cast iron pan with you (doesn’t everyone travel with kitchen equipment?) just in case your host doesn’t have one for you to use. Since the recipe only needs 6 minutes under the broiler, you can even take the turkey out of the oven for a few minutes (cover it tightly with foil) and slip the pan in to bake. Hot appetizers really don’t get any easier than this one and I can already anticipate how quickly this baked fontina will go on the appetizer table this year.
Baked Fontina
source: adapted from How Easy is That? by Ina Garten
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 lbs Italian fontina, rind removed and cubed into 1-inch pieces
- 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
- 1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Instructions:
- Adjust top rack of the oven so that it sits about 5 inches under the broiler unit. Preheat broiler.
- Spread cheese out in the bottom of a 12-inch cast iron pan. Drizzle olive oil over the cheese. Mix together the garlic and herbs in a small bowl and sprinkle the mixture evenly over the cheese. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the top of the cheese.
- Bake for 6 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and melted through. Carefully remove the pan from the oven and set it on a heatproof surface – the pan will be hot! Serve immediately.
{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm yummy
This is one amazing recipe, I make baked brie ALL THE TIME and I’m Italian, what a grand idea this was!
I made this awhile back and it is absolutely wonderful. You are so right describing it as melted cheese heaven!
I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving
Oh my goodness….this looks ridiculously good. I love the simplicity with the melted herbs, garlic and olive oil. Of course it’s an Ina recipe. Might have to squeeze this in on Thanksgiving.
I just had to wipe a pool of drool off of the keyboard. Totally making this for football this weekend!
You’re right! How easy is this?! Love it.
It looks amazing!
I love appetizers and could this one get any easier? Looks fantastic!
That looks so…..cheesy in an extremely yummy way! Drool…
Wow, this looks remarkable. I must make this, soon!
Made this for an impromptu Thanksgiving party. They raved! It was ridiculous how easy it was. This is going in the cookbook. And I can’t stress enough, do NOT forget how hot the pan is!
Is it weird that I just licked my monitor? I didn’t think so.
Does it have to be a cast iron skillet?
dlyte2: No, but a cast iron pan will hold the heat really well when you take it out of the oven and will help to keep the cheese melted for a longer period of time.
Would a sourdough bread bowl work, you think? Im trying to think of another way to serve this besides an iron pan or skillet. I guess I could use a baking dish also. Any other ideas? Cant wait to serve this at my party this Sat!
Cara: You could transfer the cheese to a bread bowl after baking/broiling it but the cheese won’t stay hot for too long – the cast iron retains heat really well and helps to keep the cheese hot. Alternatively, if you have a fondue pot with a low flame (or an electric one), that would work really well too. Let me know how you decide to serve it – this will help others who may not have cast iron pans.
Hmmmm. I’m going to make this over the holidays using either my mini-crock or full-size crockpot!
Yummy
Is Brie the same as this cheese? I only have Walmart to shop and have never seen this cheese. It looks and sounds divine!
Jennifer: Brie is not the same but since it melts so awesomely, I think it would still be great used in place of the fontina. It won’t be as stringy when it’s melted but I still think you’ll love it. Let me know how it goes!
I think I’m gonna pass out. This is too good!
Can this be done in a small Crockpot? I don’t have a cast iron pan, and I think the crockpot would keep it warmed up just like a cast iron pan. Looks delicious and I plan on making it for Christmas Eve!
Nicole: I don’t know but you can try it!
This is AMAZING! I made it for our family Christmas get together as an appetizer and it was a huge hit. I filled up on it and could hardly eat my dinner! Thanks for the recipe, I’m making it for New Years too! Delicious!!
So simple and so addictively good!
Is there another kind of cheese that can be used. We’ve checked our local Safeway and can’t seem to find Fontina cheese. I’d hate to substitute with anything substandard and feel like the recipe isn’t amazing!
Jolene: Brie would work nicely here too.
I made this tonight and it was FABULOUS!!! We only made 1/2 a recipe but my husband and I ate it all. We didn’t have any time so we used sage instead and it was delicious. @Jolene, our local grocery stores don’t have Fontina either so I stocked up when we went out of town on Saturday.
KatieR: So glad you both loved it!
OMG, it’s a sin
)