Roast Pumpkin Cheese Fondue

This is the ultimate recipe for a creamy, gooey, garlicky and very cheesy fondue. A whole roasted sweet pumpkin layered with Gruyere, mature cheddar and red Leicester cheese, creme fraiche, chopped shallot, grated garlic and a few good glugs of white wine. All complete with a few good chunks of crusty baguette and fluffy salted roast potatoes. This is the ultimate comfort food for cold bonfire night. When I saw this recipe on the BBC Good Food website I knew I had to cook it. For the original recipe click here.

Bonfire Night

So Bonfire night has been and gone once again. It’s a time of year that I absolutely love…. Crisp chilly nights with a haze of smoke hanging in the air, everyone all togged up heading out to watch the firework displays. Years ago I used to go to huge planned events like Alton Towers or Betley bonfire. There would be crowds upon crowds of people heading out to celebrate the evening, sparklers in one hand, a toffee apple in the other, and a blur of loud booming fairground music filling the nights sky. There would always be such a buzz in the air, excited children and families gathering around the crackling bonfire, I love it all.

I remember bonfire night meant steaming hot jacket potatoes that had been cooking hours in foil jackets, nestled at the edge of the huge roaring bonfire. Charred and crispy on the outside and fluffy and buttery in the middle and smothered with ladles of beef chili mince or vegetable curry. Hot, comforting and truly delicious.

Comfort Food

Comfort food at a bonfire is an absolute must in my book. However, it needs to be something that is simple to make, I don’t want to be fussing in the kitchen when there’s fireworks to watch, no way am I missing those bangers. Secondly, it can be left to cook away on it’s own whilst family and guests attend the bonfire but ultimately it has to be hot, tasty and filling.

All the cheese

So this year I found the perfect recipe. Being as I got a bit carried away pumpkin picking on the farm, I figured a pumpkin dish would surely have to feature. I have oodles of them dotted around the place. So, whilst everyone else was creatively carving away making the Jack O Lanterns,

I decided to stuff mine with as much cheese, cream, wine and garlic as possible before roasting it and then I dunked as many salted roast spuds and crusty bread in as I could eat. It was Perfect!!

So Simple

What’s more is it really is so simple, the hardest part is probably getting all of the little pumpkin seeds out, those pumpkins have a serious amount of seeds packed in. However, it’s not such a bad thing, be sure to keep them, when roasted they make a delicious and nutritious snack. I have a few recipes I will post if you fancy pimping up your pumpkin pips. Watch this space.

Roast Pumpkin Cheese Fondue

Anyway, back to the cheesilicious fondue… For this recipe I used a mixture of cheeses; Gruyere, mature cheddar and red Leicester. You can use which ever you prefer but I would recommend using either Gouda, Emmental, Gruyere or Raclette as one of your cheeses, as it really helps give that melted, gooey consistency that is so satisfying in a fondue. I would have loved to have added a good slab of soft blue cheese in this too, basically because I’m obsessed with blue cheese. Maybe a Cambazola or Gorgonzola but I’m not quite sure how this would affect the texture, would it split? Hmmm, maybe I will have to try it. Any excuse to stuff a pumpkin with cheese again.

One huge tip when eating this; once you have broken through the golden, bubbling crisp layer of cheese on top, be sure to scrape the sweet roasted pumpkin flesh round the outside into the melted cheese. It is SO delicious!!! Sweet soft pumpkin flesh and tangy, melted gooey cheese, heaven. I reckon if I could have eaten the skin of the pumpkin I would have. 

Don’t Forget the Wine

One thing that really surprised me about this dish was the difference the wine made. It really transforms this dish. Of course you can make this without wine, it would still be delicious, however the wine, when cooked down really cuts through the cheese and adds a slight tang that really works with the sweet roast pumpkin flesh. Yum! However, if alcohol isn’t your thing I reckon a squeeze of lemon juice would work wonders.

So ultimately cheese, wine and cream all bubbling away for hours is an absolute winner! Who’d have thought it. I totally carb loaded mine with roasties and bread but you could have a variety of different things, For example chicory leaves, roast spring onions, carrots, apple or pear wedges, roasted figs, asparagus, grapes, cured meats, or even big chunky, meaty sausages or slices of juicy steak. It’s your choice.

So if you fancy making this dish check out the recipe below, you will not be disappointed.

Roast Pumpkin Cheese Fondue

November 21, 2018

Servings: As many as you like

Prep: 15 min

Total: 2 hr

Difficulty: Easy

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This is the ultimate recipe for a creamy, gooey, garlicky and very cheesy fondue. A whole roasted sweet pumpkin layered with Gruyere, mature cheddar and red Leicester cheese, creme fraiche, chopped shallot, grated garlic and a few good glugs of white wine. All complete with a few good chunks of crusty baguette and fluffy salted roast potatoes. This is the ultimate comfort food for cold bonfire night. When I saw this recipe on the BBC Good Food website I knew I had to cook it.

By: Season2k

Ingredients

• 1 Whole pumpkin
• Small potatoes for roasting (I use Charlotte potatoes)
• Crusty bread
• 100g Gruyere cheese, grated
• 100g Red Leicester cheese, grated
• 100g Mature Cheddar cheese, grated
• 100g Crème fraîche
• Good glug of white wine
• 1 tablespoon of cornflour
• 1 Shallot finely chopped
• 3 Garlic cloves finely chopped

Directions

• Step 1 Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.
• Step 2 Cut off a ‘lid’ and scoop out all the seeds and stringy pulp
• Step 3 Place whole pumpkin on a foiled baking tray and sit the lid next to the pumpkin, stalk side up
• Step 4 Bake pumpkin for half an hour (you could also start roasting the potatoes at this point_
• Step 5 Whilst baking, mix grated cheese with the cornflour
• Step 6 Layer up the cheese, crème fraîche, white wine, shallot and garlic inside the pumpkin.
• Step 7 Place pumpkin back into the oven and bake for another 30 minutes or until the fondue mixture is all melted and bubbling, then remove from the oven
• Step 8 Once cooled slightly, dig in with roast potatoes and chunks of bread

Recipe notes:

Can this be made gluten free.

Yes, just be sure to use gluten free bread/crackers etc for your dipping goodies.

Can this be made in advance.

There isn’t really much prepping to do to this, so I would ensure the cheese is grated and the garlic and shallots are all chopped up if you want to get ahead. Then carve and de-seed the pumpkin. To stop the pumpkin from spoiling I would probably roast it for about 10 to 15 minutes just to start the roasting process. When you’re ready to cook, simply layer up the ingredients and slowly roast the pumpkin.

Can this be made without alcohol.

Sure! Substitute the wine for a squeeze of lemon juice.

How long do I roast the pumpkin for?

Good question! The size of your vegetable which depend on how long to roast this for. I used the guide provided below that I got from here in this link.