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!
Spinach Fondue
Serves 6-8
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
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.
Dipper suggestions:
Sliced carrots
Halved green beans
Sugar snap peas
Bell pepper slices
Chopped tart green apples
Sausage
Crusty French bread
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.
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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.
Jessica recently posted..Scenes from Our Weekend- Weekend at Kohler’s
Congrats to you too! We plan on having a fondue party for all the friends who helped us move.
You look beautiful, julie!
kelsey @ kelseytoney recently posted..Like A Polaroid Picture- I Shook It and 30DC day 3
Goodness this sounds amazing
And the photos are outstanding- clear, crisp, and bright!
Andie @ CanYouStayForDinner.com recently posted..Cornbread BLTs with Creamy Blue Cheese
Thank you, dear!
What a great idea, Julie! I’d never think to do a veggie-based fondue.
Liz (Little Bitty Bakes) recently posted..Coconut Birds Nest Cookies
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.
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