Baked Garlic and Herb Fontina

Photo by Katie Kay

This cheesy, garlicky, herby pan of creamy deliciousness was heaven in my mouth.  Honestly, I haven't had an appetizer in a long time that I loved as much as this one.  The fresh garlic, the herbs, the creaminess of the cheese all bubbly around the edges...sigh.  My life is absolutely complete.
Next time I deserve a treat and I'm all on my own catching up on True Blood, I want to make this for myself.  All for me.  I'll probably pay for it later, but Baked Fontina is my new ice cream.
I bought Italian Fontina, not Swedish.  I easily found Swedish Fontina at HEB, but I wanted to mimic the recipe perfectly, and I'm glad I asked the helpful lady at the cheese counter.  She pointed out the Italian Fontina which is a much softer cheese.
I used fresh rosemary, fresh thyme, and freshly sliced garlic.  I didn't chop it finely, I sliced it into small rounds, and the larger pieces of garlic were perfect.

Photo by Katie Kay

I also had some garlic extra virgin olive oil from my last Napa trip that I used instead of regular EVOO.  This would be just as awesome with regular, though.  
Baked Fontina
1/2 lb Italian Fontina, rind removed, cubed 9 cloves of fresh garlic, peeled and sliced into small rounds 1 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1/2 tsp Kosher salt 1/2 tsp pepper
Place cubed fontina covering the bottom of an 8" cast iron skillet.  Drizzle olive oil over cheese.  In a small bowl, mix herbs and garlic.  Sprinkle over cheese, then top with salt and pepper to taste.
Cook in a broiler on high for about 4-6 minutes, or until melted and bubbly.  I served this with large bread chunks, but I'm about to serve it again tomorrow night and since I don't have any more bread I'll be using pita chips.  
When I served this the first time, we didn't eat it fast enough and as it cooled the cheese firmed up.  I popped it back in the broiler to soften it up and we polished it off.

Source:  Smells Like Home