Cheese fondue carries with it such a fun, communal aspect. Hosting friends for fondue is a fabulous way to celebrate the holidays as a group. You can also make this recipe for a special occasion, Christmas dinner, or New Year’s Eve.
Though it sounds fancy, this fondue is shockingly simple to prepare. (Can you stand at a stove and stir? Excellent! You can make cheese fondue.) It feels like a special treat and, above all, is welcoming and cozy. It’s exactly what I’d serve my guests at my charming Swiss chalet to warm them from the chilly alpine air if, you know, I owned a Swiss chalet.
To ensure your fondue is rich, smooth, and categorically wonderful, here are a few simple tips and FAQs. Stick to these, and your dinner party will be a success upon the first bite.
Which Cheese Is Good for Fondue?
- Use Good-Quality Cheese. It will be more expensive but worth it. Even if you ignore all of the other tips, keep this one. Fondue truly is all about the cheese, and the quality and types of cheeses you use will have an enormous impact on the final product.
- For classic Swiss cheese fondue (meaning one like what you would find in Switzerland), a mix of traditional, firm mountain-style cheeses is best. In today’s recipe, I used an even blend of gruyere, fontina, and gouda. The flavor combination is complex and lush.
- Make sure it is a buttery, creamy cheese that melts smoothly. Cheddar fondue would work well, though its flavor would be less traditional. In this case, I’d use cheddar as one of the cheeses, then mix it with a more traditional cheese like gruyere.
What Ingredients do I need to make Cheese Fondue with Pita Chips?
- Milk
- Yogurt
- Water
- Dry yeast
- Sugar
- Salt
- All-purpose flour
- Whole milk
- Greek yogurt
- Grated cheese
- Grated parmesan
- Cream cheese
- Dill
- Parsley
- Lemon juice
- Garlic cloves
- Red pepper flakes
- Ground Black peppers
- Cherry tomatoes
- Kalamata olives (sliced)
- Olive oil
How Long can you Leave out Cheese Fondue Dip?
Two Hours - (Sound gross, sure. But remember that soft, ripened cheeses are made with the help of bacteria.) So if you're being extra cautious, follow the USDA guidelines that recommend you toss perishable foods, including soft cheese, that have been left out at room temperature for longer than two hours.
How to Properly store Cheese Fondue:
Just refrigerate. Although freezing some cheese will probably alter a bit its taste, especially when it has been cooked and melted, you can definitely freeze your fondue cheese and reuse it in a short time frame (2 months), it will still be great!
What to do with Leftover Cheese Fondue?
- In a sundae
- In a cup
- In a stir-fry
- In a grilled cheese
What other Foods I can use for Dipping, other than Pitas?
- Cucumbers
- Apples
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Bacon
- Roasted Baby Potatoes
- Steamed Broccoli
- Pickles
Pita Chips and Cheese Fondue Dip
Ingredients
For the Pita Chip Dough
- 1 c milk
- ½ c yogurt
- ½ c water
- 2 tbsp dry yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 3 c all-purpose flour
Cheese Fondue Dip
- ¼ c whole milk
- ⅓ c Greek yogurt
- 1 c grated cheese
- 1 c parmesan
- 1 block cream cheese softened
- 1 tsp chopped dill plus more for garnish
- 1 tsp chopped parsley plush more for garnish
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 c cherry tomatoes
- ½ c kalamata olives sliced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
For the Pita Chips:
- First, active the yeast with warm water and wait 10 minutes
- In a large bowl mix the milk, yogurt, and water.
- After, add the active yeast, salt, sugar, and flour. Start to knead.
- After we have a dough that will not stick to our hands, grease the bowl with 1 tbsp olive oil to prevent sticking.
- Put the dough into the bowl and leave it to ferment for 1 hour.
- Take the dough after fermentation, make a roll and divide to equal 12 pieces.
- Roll out all the pieces in a round shape.
- Put 2 dough one after the other and close the edges by pressing with a finger.
- Put the pita breads in a tray and bake in the oven (200 C / 392 F) for 15 minutes.
- After it baked take out them and let them cool.
- Divide the bread into two from the middle and cut them into triangles.
- Put olive oil, salt and dried thyme on top and bake in the oven (180 C / 356 C) for 10 minutes.
For the Cheese Fondue Dip:
- In a saucepan, over medium heat, heat the olive oil.
- Add garlic and cook until the smell comes out for 1 minute.
- Add cream cheese and cook until melted. Whisk in milk and cook until the mixture is heated through.
- Add the parmesan, mozzarella, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, chopped parsley, dill, and red pepper flakes.
- Season with salt and pepper and cook until the cheeses have melted.
- Remove from the heat and drizzle with olive oil.
- Garnish with more dill and parsley.
- Sprinkle the olives and tomatoes on top.
- Serve the dip warm with Pita Chips.
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