If you love fondue, raclette will be no different. More and more people are falling in love withthe Swiss court. Of course, this especially applies to cheese lovers, as cheese is the main ingredient. Like the fondue, the raclette meal is also ideal for party evenings or evenings with friends, where everyone can put together their own pan. For this reason, the dish is often used at New Year's Eve parties or other holidays. If you would like to finally try out cheese raclette or are simply looking for new variations, here are some great raclette ingredient ideas that you can consider. Experiment with the raclette side dishes and prepare unique delicacies with our tips for raclette ingredients.
What do you need for that?
You have probably already purchased the special mini oven and the corresponding pans. If not, you should do so as soon as possible. Because without an oven or raclette grill you cannot prepare quick raclette dishes. The oven is available in different shapes and of course sizes. It can contain pans for four people, but also for eight or more. Choose it depending on how many people will use it regularly.
What ingredients do you need for raclette?
The basic ingredient is of course the cheese. This is used for any combination of ingredients and is the only one of the Raclette ingredients that cannot be exchanged or replaced with others. Since, like fondue, it is a Swiss tradition and not a French one, as is often wrongly assumed, the raclette cheese should of course ideally come from Switzerland. It is now offered in suitable slice sizes, which of course makes it easier to prepare in the pans.
The cheese
But if you want to try other cheeses, you don't have to feel restricted. Goat cheese or feta also tastes wonderful in combination with various other raclette ingredients and sometimes even with sweet products such as fruit or honey. Blue cheese is also suitable, but this is undoubtedly a matter of taste. The Gouda and Cheddar are less spicy and therefore also suitable for children. And why not try parmesan too? There's nothing stopping you from simply providing different types of cheese. Everyone can decide for themselves what they want to try. And if you do thatCheese with wineor other drinks correctly, the enjoyment becomes even greater. You can find other great ingredients for the raclette evening that you can use to spice up the cheese as a base below.
And otherwise you can experiment with the raclette ingredients. A wide variety of options should be offered, especially at parties, but also at a cozy raclette evening with the family. It's all about the choice, otherwise what would otherwise be an exciting meal will quickly become boring. It is best to offer different flavors. In addition to meat and vegetables, even fruit can be used for interesting experiments and used to create an exotic dish. From savory to spicy and spicy to sweet, everything should be on the table.
It is important that you chop all the products you want to put on the table in advance. This makes it easier to prepare the pans later. After all, no one will want to chop the selected products such as meat, vegetables or fruit into bite-sized pieces, especially since the entire raclette evening itself takes several hours. Fresh spices are also chopped up beforehand and served in small bowls.
Meat ingredients
Anyone who is not a vegetarian will be happy about Raclette meat as an ingredient. Of course, all variations are permitted as raclette ideas, from chicken to pork to beef, turkey, fish or seafood. Cocktail sausages, which are classics, are also very popular. You can also prepare mini meatballs or meatballs in advance and offer them either raw or pre-fried for further preparation. With bacon you get a particularly aromatic dish. Ham or salami are also suitable ingredients for the perfect raclette. For special occasions or if you simply want to treat yourself, you can also choose delicacies such as salmon fillets, shrimps or similar raclette ingredients.
Vegetables
Classic and popular raclette ingredients are corn, mushrooms such as button mushrooms or, as a delicacy, porcini mushrooms or truffles, peppers, gherkins, but also tomatoes and carrots. It is not uncommon for people to experiment with zucchini. Why not try broccoli orCauliflower, avocado, olives or celery. In principle, you can use anything that you would otherwise like to use for cooking. How about beans or pre-cooked lentils? Another side dish that should definitely not be missing are the potatoes. Jacket potatoes in particular are very popular and go wonderfully with melted cheese. Simply combine any types of vegetables and then bake them with the raclette cheese.
Keep in mind that some of these vegetables need to be pre-cooked. These cannot be cooked through in the raclette oven alone without the cheese burning too. Carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes do not necessarily have to be roasted in the oven, but can also be served separately for snacking.Vegetarian dishesare definitely guaranteed to you.
Types of fruit for raclette
If you would like to choose vegetarian raclette ingredients, fruit varieties are also very suitable. This may sound a bit strange, but the cheese tastes really great with some types of fruit. Just think of the Hawaiian pizza, which uses pineapple. In addition to pineapple, local fruits such as apples, strawberries, pears and cranberries are also suitable. Also consider bananas, figs, grapes and cranberries. Sweet citrus fruits such as tangerines or sweeties are also possible. You can also season fish well with lemons. Feel free to experiment with mango, oranges, papaya and similar.
Dips and spices
In addition to the ingredients for raclette food already mentioned, you can also prepare some dips with which you can make the evening even more varied and pamper your taste buds. Use various fondue recipes for this purpose or even salad dressings for vegetarian raclette dishes that use vegetables. Fresh, raw vegetables or baguettes as a side dish can also be dipped.
You can spice up the dishes andRaclette recipesalso with some spices. Offer a selection of local, but also Mediterranean and exotic spices. It's not just the potatoes that can get a pleasant aroma this way. Even certain types of meat that have not been pickled beforehand taste much better. For example, beef can be refined with rosemary. Ultimately, this is purely a matter of taste. Of course, don't forget the classics in the kitchen such as salt, pepper and paprika powder. Some people will certainly be happy to use garlic as a seasoning.