Fromage Fort, meaning “strong cheese” in French, is an easy and delicious cheese spread made with leftover cheeses that are in your refrigerator. It literally takes minutes to put together and produces an awesome appetizer that your guests will rave about.
Ingredients for Fromage Fort
I first saw Alton Brown make this recipe over 14 years ago. Since then, I’ve modified it based on the cheeses that I had on hand. Because it uses leftover cheese, Fromage Fort is likely to be different every time you make it. I used mozzarella cheese, extra sharp Cheddar cheese, Gruyère cheese, Parmesan cheese, unsalted butter, garlic, dry white wine, and freshly ground black pepper. These were the cheeses that were hiding in the back of my refrigerator that needed to be used up! Be careful though. You don’t want to use a lot of really strong cheese. The reason is that it would dominate the taste as opposed to complimenting the other cheeses.
Making the Fromage Fort
Fromage Fort is one of the easiest appetizers that I’ve ever made! How so, you ask? Well, I added all of the ingredients to the bowl of my food processor fitted with a steel blade. Then, I processed the ingredients for 30 seconds. After 30 seconds, I scraped down the sides of the food processor bowl. Finally, I processed the ingredients for another 15 seconds or so until the mixture was nice and smooth. That’s it!
Serving the Fromage Fort
I served the Fromage Fort with some crackers, toasted baguette slices, celery sticks, and carrot sticks. The Master Taste Tester’s reaction was that it was Moreish. I asked what that meant. He said that it was something that he wanted more of because it was so good – the ultimate compliment!
A word of caution however – the Fromage Fort is best served at room temperature. When it’s refrigerated, it tends to get a bit hard. Regardless of your cheese combinations or how you serve the Fromage Fort, you’re likely to see it disappear quickly. Yum!
- 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded extra sharp Cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese
- 1/2 cup (2 ounces) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 Tablespoons (1 ounce) unsalted butter
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- Freshly ground black pepper
Add all ingredients to bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade.
Process for 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl; process for 15 additional seconds or until mixture is smooth.
Serve at room temperature. Yield: 2 cups.
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