I know I’ve been neglecting this blog since I got back in town last weekend, but I’ve had my standard post-travel cold to contend with. I’ve been largely asleep for the past week, waking up to eat and then go back to bed. But I’m starting to rejoin the land of the living, and I didn’t want to let another Sunday go by without a recipe! And this fondue was so good, we ate it while watching the German F1 Grand Prix this afternoon. So. Much. Cheesy. Goodness. And a rare chance to use the fondue pot Adam gave me for Christmas the year before last, I just adapted the directions to use the fondue pot instead of a saucepan.

I will say that we probably added almost another 1 cup of the Riesling to the pot and let it cook off, largely because the fondue just wasn’t thin and spreadable enough yet. And I did a mix of pancetta and bacon after I realized I hadn’t bought enough pancetta. And we ate it with chunks of apple and soft pretzels, not the pickled vegetables. But it was heavenly. The only thing we would change is leaving the pretzels unsalted, the packet they included in the box was WAY too overpowering.

Gouda, Pancetta, and Onion Fondue with Pretzels (From the April 2011 Food & Wine)

Ingredients:
4 ounces thickly sliced pancetta, chopped
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pound Gouda, coarsely shredded
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup dry Riesling
8 soft pretzels, warmed **We bought some frozen pretzels and just prepared them according to the directions. They only needed to be in the oven for 3-4 minutes, so we didn’t put them in until all the cheese was melted.**
Cubed seeded rye bread, cornichons and other pickled vegetables, for serving

In a medium skillet, cook the chopped pancetta over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until it is crisp, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pancetta to a plate. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat in the skillet.

Add the sliced onion, cover and cook over moderate heat until it is softened, about 5 minutes.

Add 2 tablespoons of water to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is lightly browned, about 5 minutes longer.

Stir in the cumin and season the onion with salt and pepper.

In a bowl, toss the cheese with the flour.

In a medium saucepan (or your fondue pot), bring the wine to a simmer over moderate heat.

Add the cheese in handfuls and stir constantly until each batch is completely melted before adding more.

Cook, stirring vigorously, until creamy, about 2 minutes longer.**This is when we decided to add some more wine and cook it longer, because our fondue was this consistency:

Stir in the pancetta and half of the onion and season generously with pepper.

Float the remaining onion on top of the fondue and serve with warm pretzels, rye bread cubes, cornichons and/or pickled vegetables.