Catfish Out of Water

I've been craving fondue for weeks. I haven't made it in ages, but my fondue pot has been staring at me lately! In order to stop staring longingly back at it I finally decided to make fondue for Thanksgiving. I was thinking about making some kind of rolls with it as well. Because what is Thanksgiving without dinner rolls? I came across a really cute recipe for rolls shaped like pumpkins. And I thought, "What better thing than pumpkin fondue with pumpkin shaped rolls?"

So, this Thanksgiving revolves around fondue and all of the pumpkins that I have been pureeing this fall! With Coronavirus in full, everyone has been making sourdough and banana nut bread. I've been roasting every pumpkin in sight and making burritos!

This pumpkin fondue recipe is adapted from Food Network's basic Cheese Fondue recipe. I use this almost every time that I make fondue and it's great. For this adaptation I merely added pumpkin in and slightly more wine.

Gallery

What to Make Along with Pumpkin Fondue?

For the rest of the recipes that I made during Thanksgiving this year, along with a breakdown of how to get them all in and out of the oven in time for dinner! Check out my blog on the pandemic holiday season. I also have a couple other Thanksgiving burritos to make with all of the leftovers!

Pandemic Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Leftover Burrito w/ Lentils, Cranberries, & Runny Egg

Thanksgiving Leftover Burrito w/ Lentils, Mashed Potato, & Runny Egg

Fondue w/ Roasted Pumpkin

Fondue is far simpler to make than it first may seem. It combines Swiss cheese, gruyere, white wine, kirsch, lemon juice, and ground mustard seed. For this version, I also added a little bit of pumpkin purée and nutmeg to spice up the holidays. It's one of my favorite dishes to make and something that I absolutely crave every single pumpkin season! There is nothing better than freshly roasted pumpkins, liquor, and cheese.

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Servings 4 cups

Equipment

• Cheese Grater
• Small Bowl or Large Plastic Bag
• Saucepan
• Fondue Pot

Ingredients

  

• 1 ½ c. pumpkin purée
• 1/2 lbs. Swiss cheese grated
• 1/2 lbs. gruyère cheese grated
• 2 tbsp. corn starch
• 1 ½ c. dry white wine
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tbsp. kirsch
• 1/2 tsp. ground mustard
• 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1 loaf bread of choice (optional)
• handful apples cubed (optional)

Instructions

 

Prepare Ingredients

• This recipe calls for Pie Pumpkin Purée. This takes about 2 hours and requires a pie pumpkin, garlic, shallots, salt, and pepper, as well as aluminum foil, a baking dish, and food processor. I usually make it ahead of time and have some on hand. But you can prepare them back-to-back!
• I made this recipe for Thanksgiving and made Pumpkin-shaped Dinner Rolls to dip in. Dinner rolls are a little bit sweeter than I would ordinarily recommend for fondue. But the pumpkin fondue with the pumpkin-shaped rolls were too fitting to pass up! You can always buy or make a crispier bread. If not for the aesthetic during the holidays, I would usually do a French loaf or baguette.

Make Fondue

• Grate gruyère and Swiss cheese into a small bowl and toss with cornstarch. Make sure that all of the pieces are lightly coated.

  This will help the cheese from separating when you cook it. If you're having a tedious time getting the cornstarch coated without clumping, add the mixture to a large Ziplock bag and shake.
• Meanwhile, heat a medium saucepan over medium heat.
• Add wine and lemon juice to the saucepan and bring to a simmer.
• Once the wine mixture begins to simmer, slowly stir in the cheese about 1/4 cup at a time. Make sure to stir constantly until fully incorporated.

  The key to a creamy fondue is adding in the cheese gradually. If it’s added too quickly, the mixture will separate!
• Once all of the cheese is incorporated and the mixture is smooth, stir in the Kirsch, mustard, and nutmeg.
• Mix in the pumpkin purée until fully incorporated.

Serve

• Transfer fondue to a fondue pot and set to medium heat.

  Keep the heat just warm enough to maintain the consistency. Reduce slightly if it begins to simmer. Increase the heat slightly if it starts to cool. Part of the key to fondue is maintaining a consistent temperature!
• Serve immediately.

  Fondue can sit in the fondue pot for a little while before serving, as long as you maintain the temperature. If it begins to cool, reheating may cause separation. If it starts to simmer again, it may thicken too much. Make sure to stir occasionally and check in on it!

  You will also likely need to stir occasionally and adjust the temperature while eating. The less fondue in the pot, the lower the temperature will need to be. It's also usually hotter at the bottom where the heat source is, so you'll need to stir to maintain a consistent temperature throughout.

  If you have a teflon fondue pot, like mine, never stir with a metal or other abrasive utensil. This will scratch the surface and both leach chemicals into the food and make it no longer nonstick.

Tips, Tricks, & Notes

• For more tips and tricks, including what kind of wine and cheese works best, I have an entire article on The Fundamentals of Making Fondue.

This recipe is adapted from Food Network's basic Cheese Fondue.