Instructions
Slice the Fontina thin, lay it in a bowl, and pour over the milk to cover. Rest 2 hours at cool room temperature (or overnight in the refrigerator).
120 minSet a heatproof bowl over barely simmering water and melt the butter in it.
3 minAdd the soaked cheese with about half its milk. Stir slowly with a wooden spoon as it melts into a thick, stringy mass. Patience: the water below must never boil.
8 minWhisk the yolks with the remaining soaking milk, then stir into the cheese. Keep stirring gently until the strings relax into a glossy, pourable cream that coats the spoon.
8 minSeason with a whisper of pepper and, only if needed, salt.
1 minPour into warmed bowls and serve immediately with toasted bread, boiled potatoes, or soft polenta.
Chef's Tips
- The soak is structural: Milk-soaked Fontina melts into cream; dry Fontina splits into oil and curd. If you skipped the soak, start over rather than fight it.
- Yolks, low heat, slow hands: The yolks thicken at custard temperatures. If the bowl ever becomes too hot to touch, lift it off the water and keep stirring.
- In late autumn, valdostano restaurants finish fonduta with shaved white truffle from neighboring Piedmont. A few drops of truffle-less honesty: it is glorious plain.
