One of the prizes that I won from Food52 for my clementine pound cake was a gorgeous All-Clad Fondue pot.
Honestly, I was a little worried it would be one of those things that sits tucked in the back of our kitchen cabinets, gathering dust from such rare use. I mean, we can only eat super rich cheese fondue and sweet chocolate fondue so often.
Until I realized that fondue doesn’t HAVE to be heavy and rich. And that it can actually be relatively healthy if it is vegetable based. Between the two huge bags of spinach and the apple and vegetable dippers, you can actually get in quite a few servings of fruits and veggies with this dish!
Since we were having our first dinner guests at the new house, I decided it would be a good night to break out the fondue pot for the first time! It was a gorgeous warm night (which makes this morning's snow make zero sense whatsoever), and we had a lot of fun chatting and dipping.
Ingredients
- 1 pound fingerling potatoes, scrubbed
- 1 pound fresh spinach, washed
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 1/2 cup freshly-grated Asiago cheese
- 8 oz cream cheese
Instructions
- In a large stockpot over medium-high heat, cover the potatoes with cold water. Cover and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to medium. After 3-5 minutes, when the potatoes have begun to soften, add the spinach and cover the pot again, cooking until the spinach is wilted.
- Remove the pot from the heat. Drain, reserving about 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Add the 1/2 cup of cooking water, butter, half-an-half, Asiago and cream cheese. Puree with an immersion blender until smooth, then pour into a warm fondue pot.
- Sliced carrots
- Halved green beans
- Sugar snap peas
- Bell pepper slices
- Chopped tart green apples
- Sausage
- Crusty French bread
Woo yummy! I’ve been wanting to have a fondue party forever. Now that we’ve bought a house (congrats on yours!) maybe we’ll have a fondue housewarming.
Congrats to you too! We plan on having a fondue party for all the friends who helped us move.
You look beautiful, julie!
Goodness this sounds amazing
And the photos are outstanding- clear, crisp, and bright!
Thank you, dear!
What a great idea, Julie! I’d never think to do a veggie-based fondue.
Definitely an out-of-the-box idea. Major points for that.
What a FABULOUS idea!
I love fondue and spinach. YUM!
Looking forward to meeting you at campblogaway next week!
Yes, I’ll look for you there!
Great idea…especially for entertaining.