Ingredients
- 10½ oz (300 g) Fontina cheese
- ½ cup milk
- 14 oz (400 g) savoy cabbage
- 9 oz (250 g) cooked chestnuts
- 4–5 shallots
- 3 tablespoons butter plus extra for the baking dishes
- freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 4 eggs
- bread crumbs for the baking dishes
- freshly ground salt and pepper
How to Make It
- Coarsely grate the Fontina cheese and mix with the milk; let stand at least 2 hours.
- In the meantime, slice the cabbage, removing thick stems as you go. Chop the chestnuts into large pieces. Peel the shallots, cut in half, and slice. Melt half the butter in a large pot and sweat the shallots for 2–3 minutes over low heat. Add the cabbage and chestnuts; season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Pour in the cream, cover, and cook for 10 minutes over low heat until all the ingredients are cooked through.
- Preheat the oven to 360°F (180°C) or 320°F (160°C) (convection oven). Using an immersion blender or vegetable chopper, puree the cabbage mixture, but not too fine. Separate 3 eggs and set the yolks aside. Mix the vegetables with 1 egg and the egg whites, then season to taste. Grease 4 timbale dishes or soufflé dishes (5 fl oz (150 ml) each) with butter. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and pour in the cabbage mixture. Place on the middle oven rack and bake for 35 minutes.
- Shortly before the soufflés are done, melt the cheese-milk mixture with the remaining butter in a double boiler, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. As soon as the mixture is relatively thick, add the egg yolks one by one. At first the mixture will be thinner, and then it will turn creamy. This usually takes about 5–10 minutes but sometimes longer. While cooking, the mixture should not get too hot, so make sure the water in the bottom is only just boiling. As soon as the fondue is creamy, remove from the stove immediately and pour into a new pot. Season, and if necessary, puree with an immersion blender until smooth.
- Remove the cabbage flans from the oven and carefully turn out onto plates; serve with the fondue.
