Fall

Fonduta con Tartufi (Truffle Fondue)

by:
November  1, 2013
5
1 Ratings
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

A traditional fondue from Piedmont in Italy's north -- a simple, homely recipe that features one of the region's best assests, truffles. Fontina, egg yolks and milk are warmed together in a heavy based saucepan. The melting mixture is then laced with shavings of fresh, pungent truffle. White truffle is the most typical in Piedmont. Use black, if you can't get white, but steer clear of truffle oil, which is usually a chemical concoction. Keep the fonduta warm. Then take a nice baguette or ciabatta bread and watch it happily disappear.

This recipe is the most traditional, simple recipe for fonduta con tartufi you could ask for, inspired by the cookbook, Nonna Genia by Beppe Lodi -- a treasure of Piedmont's cuisine, it holds a collection of typical dishes from the Langhe area. —Emiko

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Ingredients
  • 1 pound Fontina cheese, diced
  • Some milk
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup (2 tablespoons or 50 gr) butter
  • 3 ounces fresh truffles, shaved
Directions
  1. Place the diced Fontina cheese in a large bowl and cover with milk. Let rest in the fridge for several hours.
  2. In a saucepan, place the butter, egg yolks and cheese, along with all the milk. Place the saucepan on top of another saucepan containing boiling water (a bain marie or double broiler) and mix energetically until the cheese begins to melt.
  3. When you have a fondue with a dense, creamy consistency, remove from the bain marie. Keep the fondue warm and serve with the truffle scattered on top. Enjoy with plenty of grilled bread.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

6 Reviews

Pet123 August 18, 2017
Salt????
Emiko August 19, 2017
Do you mean, do you need salt in this recipe? With all that fontina, no, I don't use it in this (just imagine: would you sprinkle salt on a slice of fontina cheese that you were eating on bread?)
Jake G. June 22, 2017
Cheese with truffle? I dont think it gets much better than that! what a recipe. Im going to get some truffle from https://www.thetrufflequeen.com and give it a shot. Looks absolutely amazing and I cant wait to try it! Ill let you know how it goes. Thanks. Oh Michael, I agree that truffle isnt cheap, but at the same time its not as expensive as people think, i mean it costs about the same as a good bottle of wine, so if you are sharing it amongst friends, its not too bad.
Mac November 23, 2016
I followed this to a tee, and it was prettttty good but not fantastic. Perhaps too much milk, but it was very mild tasting and the eggs curdled. Shaved fresh Oregon black truffle over it which was nice, but this dish is missing some flavor. Also, "some milk" and saying 2tbsp=1/4 cup (when actually 4 tbsp=1/4 cup) makes me think something is amiss with the recipe. I know how Nonnas are, but still, would not make this again as-written.
Michael January 7, 2016
I love the simplicity of this dish and the earthy falvor of black truffle but, it should be noted that this little pot of molten cheese will cost you in excess of $300 if paying retail prices for imported truffles and high-quality cheese. I found a source in Oregon which makes about half the price so I am going for it when my new Staub fondue pot arrives. The question that begs . . . how many people should I call in to share it with?
Waverly December 16, 2013
This looks absolutely wonderful...I can't wait to try it. Thank you for the recipe and congratulations on the CP!