Baked Fontina

I was a happy girl this Christmas as I received five cookbooks from Santa! One of the cookbooks is Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa How Easy is That? and I was so excited to try a few recipes that I'd seen reviewed out in blog-land. One in particular piqued my curiosity because the main ingredient was cheese, which I love dearly, and the blogger (Pink Parsley's Josie) said it was one of her favorite appetizers of all time. I knew I had to try it!

Oh and it was fabulous! But how could you go wrong with oodles of melted cheese?!? I made 2/3 of a recipe to serve four people and not a drop was left. It was so easy to throw everything together in the skillet, pop it under the broiler and it's ready to eat in 6 minutes! The only con I have with this dish is that it can be a little pricy (the cheese was about $17/lb) so I altered the recipe a little bit to bring down the cost. And I still thought my cheaper version was delicious!

Baked Fontina

recipe altered by Erin from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa How Easy is That? Cookbook

1/2 pound Italian Fontina Val d'Aosta cheese, rind removed and 1-inch diced

1/2 pound cheaper Italian Fontina, rind removed and 1-inch diced

3 T good olive oil

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 1/2 t dried thyme leaves

1/2 t dried rosemary leaves

1/2 t kosher salt

1/4 t freshly ground black pepper

1 crusty French baguette

Preheat the broiler.

In a 12-inch cast iron skillet, evenly distribute the cubed cheese. Drizzle olive oil over the cheese. Sprinkle garlic, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper over cheese as well. Place under the broiler for 6 minutes, until the cheese is melted, bubbly and starting to brown.

Serve with crusty chunks of bread.