baked fontina

I made the most delicious and decadent pre-dinner snack on New Year's Eve this year with our friends Catherine and Peter: baked fontina. And it was so simple! You just need a healthy amount of Italian fontina cheese, olive oil, fresh herbs, and garlic. Everything goes into a cast iron skillet, and after a few minutes under the broiler, you end up with a pan full of very flavorful melted cheese to spread on crusty bread. Add a glass or two of wine, and you'll be on your way to preprandial bliss!

The recipe, which originally comes from The Red Cat in Chelsea (one of my very favorite places), is featured in the lunch chapter of Ina Garten's book, The Barefoot Contessa How Easy is That?. I myself would find it very hard to have a productive afternoon if I ate this much melted cheese in the middle of the day, so I recommend serving it as a first course.

Here's what you need:

1.5 lbs Italian Fontina Val D'Aosta cheese, rind removed and diced into 1-inch pieces

1/4 cup olive oil

6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves

1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary leaves

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 crusty french baguette

1. Preheat the broiler and position the oven rack 5 inches from the heat.

2. Spread the cubes of fontina evenly around a 12-inch cast iron pan. Drizzle olive oil. Combine the garlic, thyme, and rosemary and sprinkle it over the cheese and olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and place the pan under the broiler for 6 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling and starts to brown.

3. Serve the baked fontina right out of the oven in the cast-iron pan, with crusty chunks of bread for dipping.