Cheese fondue is very quick to make and always feels like a bit of a celebration; a lovely dish to rustle up for a cosy dinner à deux or for a cosy supper with friends.
- 1 French stick
- 1 garlic clove, halved
- 225g (8oz) Edam or Emmenthal cheese
- 150ml (5fl oz) dry white wine or cider
- 1 tablespoon cornflour
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- freshly grated nutmeg
Cut or break the bread into bite-sized pieces, spread them out on a baking sheet or heatproof dish and put them under a not-too-hot grill to warm.
Rub the garlic around the inside of a medium-sized saucepan, then discard it. Grate the cheese.
Put all but a couple of tablespoons of the wine or cider into the saucepan, add the cheese and bring just to the boil – the cheese will look like a lumpy mess at this stage but don’t worry.
Blend the cornflour with the remaining wine or cider then pour this into the cheese mixture, stirring vigorously over the heat. The mixture will thicken and become smooth.
Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice and some salt, pepper and grated nutmeg to taste. Serve at once with the warm bread – have long forks available so that you can spear pieces of bread and dip them into the fondue pan.
Note: To make enough for 4 or 6 people, just double or treble all the ingredients except for the garlic clove; you only need one of those.
Taken from Rose Elliot's Vegetarian Meals in Minutes (slightly adapted for this website), published by Collins.
Photo by Ant Jones for Cook Vegetarian!
