Valle d'Aosta · Aosta
Fonduta valdostana
Aosta Valley Fontina fondue
Fontina melted with milk, butter and egg yolks into a silky cream, served with toasted bread, boiled potatoes or polenta.
- Course
- AntipastoStarter
- Serves
- 4
- Hands-on
- 10 min
- Cooking
- 13 min
- Resting
- 2 h+
La provenienza
Where this recipe comes from
Fonduta is the Alpine cousin of Swiss fondue, but thickened with egg yolks rather than wine and starch. It depends entirely on Fontina, the PDO cheese made from the whole raw milk of Valdostana cows.
There is no official recipe: the version here is the one Aosta Valley sources agree on — Fontina, whole milk, butter and egg yolks, and nothing else.
- Provenance
- Documented traditionA regional tradition documented in cookbooks and local practice, with no single official text.
- Defined by
- Aosta Valley tradition
- Reference
- Based on Fontina PDO
Ingredienti
Ingredients
Equipment
- Heatproof bowl that sits on a saucepan without touching the water (a double boiler)
- Wooden spoon or small whisk
- Probe thermometer
- Warm bowls, or a fondue pot over a very low flame to keep it warm
Preparazione
Method
Soak the Fontina in milk at least 2 hours ahead (or overnight in the fridge). The cooking takes about 20 minutes of constant stirring, right before serving.
- 10 minhands-on
- 13 mincooking
- 2 hresting, at least
Ahead
-
Rest 2 h
Remove the rind and cut the Fontina into cubes of about 1 cm. Put them in a bowl, pour over the milk and leave for at least 2 hours at room temperature, or overnight in the fridge.
Tip Soaking softens the cheese so it melts smoothly instead of turning stringy.
The fonduta
-
Hands-on 5 minTemp 85 °CHeat low — the water should only steam
Bring a few centimetres of water to a bare simmer in the saucepan, about 85 °C, and set the bowl over it so it does not touch the water. Melt the butter in the bowl.
-
Cooking 10–15 minTemp 60 °C
Add the Fontina with its milk and stir constantly, in a figure of eight, until it has melted into a smooth, flowing cream — 10–15 minutes.
Check Completely smooth, with no strings or lumps, at about 60 °C.
-
Hands-on 3 min
Lift the bowl off the pan. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, waiting until each is absorbed before adding the next.
Tip Taking the bowl off the heat stops the first yolk from scrambling on contact.
-
Cooking 3–5 minTemp 65 °C–70 °C
Set the bowl back over the water and keep stirring until the fonduta thickens into a velvety cream — 3–5 minutes. Do not let it go above about 70 °C, and never let it boil.
Check It coats the back of the spoon, and a finger drawn through the coating leaves a clean line.
-
Hands-on 2 min
Serve straight away in warm bowls, without adding salt, with toasted dark bread, boiled potatoes or polenta. Keep any left in the pot over a very low flame.
Tip White truffle shaved on top is a Piedmontese touch, not part of the Aosta recipe.
The essentials, for cooks who know the dish. Switch to Detailed for quantities, temperatures, times and checks at every step.
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Errori comuni
Common mistakes
- Heating it too fast — the cheese turns stringy and the yolks scramble.
- Adding wine or cornflour as in Swiss fondue: the fonduta is thickened only by the egg yolks.
- Salting it — Fontina is salty enough.
Fuori dall'Italia
Cooking it outside Italy
- Outside Italy, ask for Fontina from Valle d'Aosta specifically; Danish ‘fontina’ is a different, milder cheese.
