Baked Fontina Cheese Recipes

BAKED FONTINA

Steps:

• Before preheating the oven, move one oven rack and place it about 5 inches from the heat. (on the bottom rack)
• Turn the broiler oven on high.
• Assemble your Fontina cheese cubes in the bottom of a large cast-iron pan. Be sure to space them apart. Drizzle olive oil on top of the cheese.
• In a small bowl, combine garlic, fresh thyme, and fresh rosemary. Sprinkle the mixture over the cheese and olive oil.
• Add salt and pepper and place the pan under the broiler for about 6 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and starts to brown.
• Serve immediately with the French baguette.

BAKED FONTINA

Steps:

• Preheat the broiler and position the oven rack 5 inches from the heat.
• Distribute the cubes of Fontina evenly in a 12-inch cast-iron pan. Drizzle on the olive oil. Combine the garlic, thyme, and rosemary and sprinkle it over the cheese and olive oil. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper and place the pan under the broiler for 6 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling and starts to brown.
• Serve the baked Fontina family-style¿right out of the oven in the cast-iron pan with crusty chunks of bread for everyone to dip.

BAKED FONTINA WITH GARLIC, OLIVE OIL, AND THYME

Steps:

• Preheat the broiler.
• For individual servings, divide the fontina among four 6-inch cast-iron pans.
• Drizzle with olive oil and scatter the garlic, thyme, and rosemary over the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. For one large pan, use a 12-inch cast-iron skillet and follow the same directions.
• Broil until the cheese is melted and bubbly, 6 to 7 minutes.
• Serve each person an individual pan, setting it on a trivet or napkin, or serve from the 12-inch pan set in the center of the table, with the bread alongside for dunking.

QUICK FONTINA CHEESE FONDUE

Steps:

• Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat until a pinch of flour sprinkled into the oil will just begin to bubble. Whisk in flour to form a thick paste the consistency of cake frosting. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until flour has turned golden and begins to smell like toast, about 20 minutes. Whisk in wine, mustard, and cayenne.
• Mix heavy whipping cream into the flour-butter mixture; cook and stir until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add fontina cheese; stir until melted, about 1 minute. Transfer to a fondue pot.

BAKED SPINACH WITH FONTINA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 8 x 8 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Beat eggs in large bowl to blend. Mix in spinach, then cheese and tomatoes.
• Heat 2 tablespoons oil reserved from tomatoes in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic; sauté until onions begin to brown, about 8 minutes. Add to spinach mixture. Mix in salt and pepper. Transfer to prepared dish. Sprinkle with cracker crumbs.
• Bake spinach mixture until set in center, about 40 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes and serve.

BAKED POLENTA WITH FONTINA CHEESE

Steps:

• Butter 9x13-inch baking dish. Combine 2 1/4 cups water, broth, shallots and marjoram in heavy large Dutch oven; bring to boil. Mix 2 1/2 cups cold water and cornmeal in bowl. Gradually mix cornmeal mixture into broth mixture. Return to boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium and boil gently until polenta is very thick, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• Immediately spread 2 cups polenta in prepared dish. Top with 1 3/4 cups cheese. Drizzle with 1/4 cup cream. Repeat layering, using 2 cups polenta, 1 3/4 cups cheese and 1/4 cup cream. Top with remaining polenta. Spread remaining cheese over. Cover with foil. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before continuing.)
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake covered polenta until hot in center, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Uncover; continue baking until polenta bubbles at edges and top begins to brown, about 10 minutes.

EASY BAKED FRITTATE WITH ASPARAGUS AND ASIAGO

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375° F.
• Cut the tough ends of the asparagus spears and discard. Chop the remaining spears into ¼" pieces, reserving six of the tips. You should have about ¾ cup chopped asparagus.
• In a small skillet, heat two tablespoons of the olive oil and add the asparagus and the green onion. Season with a little salt and cook for just a few minutes to soften the asparagus. Remove from the heat and allow them to cool.
• Whisk the eggs, milk or cream, and the salt and pepper in a large measuring cup until well blended (this will make the pouring easier).
• Brush all six cups of a regular muffin tin generously with the remaining olive oil. If you have a non-stick one muffin tin, all the better.
• Divide the asparagus and onion mixture evenly among the 6 muffin cups. Add the Asiago cheese on top of the vegetables. Next, pour the egg and milk mixture over the filling in each cup as evenly as possible, about two-thirds of the way from the top. Add the asparagus tips to top each muffin.
• Bake until the egg mixture puffs up and is soft but set in the center, about 15 minutes or so. Do not overcook them (the color of the egg custard should not be brown.)
• Sprinkle the top with some Parmesan cheese and allow them to sit for a few minutes. Using a rubber spatula, loosen the frittate from the muffin cups and slide them onto a serving platter. Sprinkle with some fresh parsley and serve immediately.

BAKED FONTINA ORZO

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Grease six 10-oz. ramekins or custard cups with butter; set aside. , Cook orzo according to package directions; drain. In a large bowl, combine orzo, cheese, peppers and olives. Spoon into prepared ramekins. , In another bowl, whisk eggs, milk and nutmeg; pour over orzo mixture. Place ramekins on a baking sheet. , Bake 25-30 minutes or until a thermometer inserted in the center reads 160°.

BAKED FONTINA CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat broiler.
• Combine garlic, thyme, and rosemary in small bowl and set aside. Spread cheese cubes in bottom of cast iron skillet and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with garlic-herb mixture, then with salt and pepper. Place skillet under broiler and broil until cheese is melting, bubbling, and starting to brown, about 6-8 minutes.
• Serve immediately with crusty bread for dunking.