Chargrilled seasonal vegetables with cheese and mushroom fondue
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Inspired by his trip to Zurich, Josh Eggleton serves up his take on a Swiss cheese fondue, giving it his own spin by using English ale and earthy ceps for a beautiful depth of flavour. The fondue is served with seasonal vegetables that are charred for a delightfully smoky finish – the perfect starter to get stuck into at a dinner party.
First published in 2018
Ingredients
Metric
Imperial
Fondue
- 2 banana shallots
- 2 garlic cloves
- 300ml of pale ale, Josh uses Independence pale ale
- 30g of dried ceps
- 20g of unsalted butter
- 20g of plain flour
- 10g of English mustard powder
- 1 tsp cep powder
- 300g of Gruyère, Emmental or Appenzeller (or use all three)
- sea salt
Seasonal vegetables
- 1 handful of tenderstem broccoli, woody stalks trimmed
- 1 handful of large spring onions, trimmed (or use calçots if available)
- 1 handful of rainbow chard
- 1 courgette, cut into 1cm thick slices at an angle
- rapeseed oil
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
SAVE RECIPE
Method
1
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4
2
Place the shallots and garlic on a sheet of tin foil (in their skins) and wrap the foil round them to form a parcel. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes, or until very soft
3
Bring the beer up to a simmer in a small pan, remove from the heat and stir in the dried ceps. Cover and leave to infuse for 20 minutes
- 30g of dried ceps
- 300ml of pale ale, Josh uses Independence pale ale
4
Strain the infused beer through a sieve into a measuring jug, add the cep powder and top up with cold water to give you 250ml in total. Set aside. Please note that the steeped ceps can be used in other dishes, so don’t throw them away
- 1 tsp cep powder
5
On a gentle heat, melt the butter in a heavy-based pan. Stir in the flour and mustard powder and cook out until the roux smells like freshly-baked biscuits
- 20g of unsalted butter
- 20g of plain flour
- 10g of English mustard powder
6
Then, slowly and in stages, pour the cep-infused beer into the roux, whisking constantly until the sauce is smooth
7
Peel the roasted shallots and garlic and finely chop. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over them and using the back of your knife, mash to a paste (the salt acts as an abrasive to help with this). Add to the pan
8
Add the grated cheese in stages, stirring continuously until all is melted
- 300g of Gruyère, or Emmental or Apenzeller or all three
9
Finally, season with the sea salt. Add more water or beer gradually if you want the sauce more runny and check the seasoning again. Leave the fondue on a very low heat before serving, making sure to stir regularly
10
Blanch the tenderstem and spring onions for 1 minute in heavily salted boiling water then drain and chill quickly in iced water
- 1 handful of large spring onions, washed and trimmed (or use calçots if available)
- 1 handful of tenderstem broccoli, woody stalks trimmed
11
Use the same boiling water to blanch the chard for about 30 seconds, then drain and chill in iced water. Drain the vegetables in a colander and dry well with kitchen paper
- 1 handful of rainbow chard, washed
12
Season the blanched tenderstem broccoli, spring onions and chard along with the raw courgette with sea salt, cracked black pepper and rapeseed oil. Chargrill, grill or dry-fry the vegetables until just starting to blacken
- 1 courgette, cut into 1cm thick slices at an angle
- freshly ground black pepper
- rapeseed oil
- sea salt
13
Place the chargrilled vegetables equally on each serving plate and season again with sea salt if required. Pour the fondue into small side bowls and serve with the vegetables
First published in 2018
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