Truffle Fondue (Fonduta al Tartufo) with Fontina Cheese

Truffle fondue, or fonduta al tartufo in Italian, is a rich and decadent dish made with creamy Fontina cheese, and topped with white or winter black truffles.  Use truffle products if you don’t have fresh truffles on hand.

If you’re a cheese and truffle lover, this truffle fondue has your name written all over it!

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Be sure to use a good Fontina cheese from Italy, especially if you’re using fresh truffles.

You may not have known that Italy has its own fondue recipes, right? However, if you think about its proximity to Switzerland, it makes sense. And speaking of Switzerland and cheese, don’t miss my all about raclette post!

If you love truffles, this truffle pasta recipeis for you.

This recipe is from the Piedmont region of Italy, in the Northern part of the country. Alba is famous for truffles, so it makes sense that this recipe is from this area.

I’ve linked to a real Italian Fontina below, but you can surely find it at a much more reasonable price locally or elsewhere online.

Try this baked Camembert with truffle honey!

Note: don’t improvise this recipe. I made it several times, and it has a tendency for the cheese to melt into a mass separate from the milk. I discovered that adding the milk slowly works much better. So the directions are written as they are for a reason.

Truffle Fondue (Fonduta al Tartufo)

Recipe by Paolo Affori slightly adapted by Christina Conte          serves 2
FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW

Ingredients

• Val d’Aosta Fontina cheese (from Italy)
• milk
• egg yolks
• fresh white or winter black truffle (or preserved truffle product)

How to Make Italian Truffle Fondue

In a heatproof or glass bowl, put the grated cheese and half of the milk and let stand for an hour. 

Place the bowl with the cheese and milk into a pot with water so that you have a bain marie (the water should be half way up the bowl and the bowl shouldn’t touch the bottom of the pan). Heat the water over low heat to melt the cheese and milk. When the cheese is half melted, add more of the milk a little at a time to incorporate it evenly.

Keep stirring (or whisking) until the cheese has melted completely the mixture has a uniform consistency.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolk, then add a spoonful of the milk and cheese mixture to temper the egg. Add a few more tablespoonfuls and whisk well. 

Gently and slowly whisk the egg mixture back into the bowl in the pot. You don’t want the mixture to curdle or boil, which can happen if the heat is too high, or you add the mixture too quickly.

Keep whisking over the heat for a few minutes until the fondue has thickened. 

Remove from heat and arrange where you’d like to serve it or transfer to a small fondue pot (this is a small amount so it’s not necessary to use one).

Next, either slice the truffle (with a truffle slicer) over the fondue, or add the truffle product(s) of your choice.