'Travel notes' – cheese fondue with celery pesto and fruit syrup spoons

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Fabrizio Marino creates a playful take on a traditional cheese fondue, sandwiching a velvety Parmesan cheese cream between layers of sautéed vegetables, celery pesto and foamed milk with a line of syrup topped spoons providing a different flavour with every mouthful. The chef recommends using 25 year old balsamic vinegar from Modena, but if you are unable to locate this use the best quality variety you can find.

First published in 2016

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Cheese fondue

  • 150g of Parmesan
  • 30g of cornflour
  • 200g of milk
  • 100g of cream
  • water

Celery pesto

  • 200g of celery leaves
  • 50g of almonds
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • salt

Passion fruit syrup

  • 300g of passion fruit juice
  • 2g of cornflour, mixed with a little water to thicken
  • 50g of sugar
  • 15g of water

Orange syrup

  • 200g of orange juice
  • 4g of cornflour, mixed with a little water to thicken
  • 30g of sugar
  • 8g of water
  • sesame seeds

Raspberry syrup

  • 150g of raspberry purée
  • 50g of sugar
  • 50g of lemon juice
  • 15g of water

Grape syrup

  • 100g of sugar
  • 375g of grape must
  • 75g of lemon juice
  • 25g of water

Sautéed vegetables

To serve

  • 500g of UHT milk

Equipment

  • Thermometer
  • Blender
  • Hand blender
  • Piping bags 4

Method

1
Begin by preparing the passion fruit syrup. Bring the juice to the boil in a small saucepan and quickly whisk in the thickened cornflour over the heat. In a separate pan, combine the sugar and water together and heat until the mixture reaches 121°C. Whisk the juice into the syrup mixture, then remove from the heat and leave to cool
  • 300g of passion fruit juice
  • 2g of cornflour, mixed with a little water to thicken
  • 50g of sugar
  • 15g of water
2
In two separate pans repeat the process with the orange juice, first thickening it in a little cornflour mixed with water before whisking it into a 121°C sugar syrup
  • 200g of orange juice
  • 4g of cornflour, mixed with a little water to thicken
  • 30g of sugar
  • 8g of water
3
Transfer the passion fruit and orange syrups to separate piping bags and place in the fridge, cleaning the pans ready for the other syrups. For the raspberry syrup combine the sugar, lemon juice and water in a pan and heat until it reaches 121°C, then whisk in the raspberry purée. Transfer to a piping bag and place in the fridge until ready to serve
  • 50g of sugar
  • 50g of lemon juice
  • 150g of raspberry purée
  • 15g of water
4
For the grape syrup, heat the sugar, lemon juice and water together in a pan and heat until the liquid reaches 121°C. Whisk through the grape must and, once cooled a little, transfer to a piping bag and refrigerate until required
  • 100g of sugar
  • 75g of lemon juice
  • 25g of water
  • 375g of grape must
5
For the celery pesto, bring a pan of salted water to the boil and blanch the celery leaves for at least 8 minutes. Plunge into iced water to refresh and squeeze out any excess water. Transfer to a food processor and blend along with the almonds and a little oil until it forms a smooth pesto. Season with salt and set aside until ready to serve
  • 200g of celery leaves
  • salt
  • 50g of almonds
  • extra virgin olive oil
6
For the fondue, add the cornflour to a pan with a dash of water and mix until it forms a loose paste. Combine the milk and cream in a medium saucepan and bring up to the boil. Remove from the heat and slowly whisk through the cornflour paste, then return to the hob and bring back up to the boil
  • 30g of cornflour
  • 200g of milk
  • 100g of cream
7
Once boiling, remove from the heat and grate the Parmesan into the pan. Mix well until the Parmesan has melted in the heat of the liquid, then pass through a fine sieve into a clean pan and keep warm until ready to serve
8
For the sautéed vegetables add a little oil to a heavy bottomed pan and place over a high heat. Break the cauliflower into small florets and add this to the pan along with the diced mushrooms. Season with salt and cook until softened and golden
9
When ready to serve, place the UHT milk in a saucepan over a medium heat and warm through until it starts to steam. Transfer to a high-sided jug and froth the hot milk with a hand blender to create a foam
  • 500g of UHT milk
10
To serve, divide the pesto between 8 small bowls and top with the the sautéed vegetables, Parmesan fondue and milk foam. Arrange five spoons across each serving platter and pipe in a drop of each syrup and a little balsamic vinegar per person. Sprinkle a few sesame seeds over the orange syrup and serve immediately
  • sesame seeds

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