Original Recipe

Baked Fontina

When “make hors d’oeuvres” makes its way onto your to-do list, you could buy a variety of nice cheeses, arrange them on a charcuterie board with grapes and nuts and something exotic like quince membrillo. Or, you can spend all of 10 minutes preparing this herb-and-garlic-filled Fontina cheese dip with torn-off hunks of crusty bread. Your call.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds Reny Picot Fontina

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced

1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 French baguette

Instructions

1. Preheat broiler and position oven rack 5 inches from the heat.
2. Remove rind and dice Fontina into 1-inch cubes.
3. Distribute Fontina cubes evenly in a 12-inch cast-iron pan. Drizzle with olive oil.
4. Combine the garlic, thyme, and rosemary and sprinkle it over the Fontina and olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and place the pan under the broiler for 5 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling and starts to brown.
5. Serve baked Fontina right out of the oven in the cast-iron pan with hunks of crusty bread.