Truffle Mac and Cheese
Truffle Mac and Cheese is a rich and creamy pasta with earthy aromatic flavor, thanks to White Truffle Oil and Black Truffles and Mushrooms Sauce.
Dinner should never be boring. Don’t you agree? You always want to end the day in a happy mood. And what better way to end it, than with a deliciously creamy pasta dish with a special treat added, black truffle sauce.
When we were growing up, my siblings and I never ate the same type of food every day. It was something new every day. Because my parents experienced other cuisines at an early age, we grew up to enjoy different types of foods as well.
Pasta, believe it or not, is eating a lot in the Caribbean. In Haiti, pasta is served for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Spaghetti with Milk is a dish that I would usually eat for breakfast or supper. Spaghetti with sausages or ham would be for lunch or dinner. Pasta would also find its way in our national squash soup or soup joumou, and even mixed without Chicken in Creole sauce.
What makes pasta taste so good and so popular?
Have you ever eaten a bowl of pasta dish and felt energized after? This is because pasta is a good source of energy and can give you fiber, too, if it’s made from whole grain.
Pasta is one of those ingredients that is popular because it is cheap and versatile. You can create lots of different dishes with vegetables, poultry, and fish. It also helps you create a one-dish meal easily like baked ziti.
So, what is Truffle Mac and Cheese
Truffle Mac and Cheese is pasta baked in a cheesy decadent bechamel sauce and finished with truffle oil, truffle butter, or real truffle if you can afford it.
The bechamel sauce is the key to making this dish perfect. You must make enough sauce and add lots of cheese to keep the pasta moist.
Can you use any pasta shells? Yes, and no! You should choose medium-size pasta shells that will hold the creamy cheesy sauce well – the sauce must coat each shell perfectly. The pasta must fit on your fork or spoon. You may also want to choose a hollow shape pasta to hold the cheesy sauce.
Elbow macaroni, Campanelle, Cut Ziti, and even Gemelli pasta are perfect for this dish. They also make great pasta dishes.
How about the cheese? The word cheese makes me smile all the time. Smooth, creamy, a bit sharp with deep flavor – that’s what I like. Good white cheddar cheese mixed with gouda and even parmesan cheese is a good combination. If you can find truffle cheese, try it. Just make sure you balance the sharpness of the cheese.
Let’s not forget the bechamel sauce? Okay! Some people use milk, heavy cream, and some use homemade bechamel sauce. Whatever creamy texture you choose to coat the pasta shells, make sure it is tasty.
I prefer bechamel sauce because of the texture. Bechamel sauce is a decadent sauce that is versatile and used in many dishes. A good bechamel sauce takes patience to stir and good cheese. And let’s not forget that pinch of nutmeg. You need it!
Why are truffles so expensive?
Truffles are rare edible types of fungi. They are different from regular mushrooms because they grow underground. Truffles are expensive because you can’t easily plant, farm, or harvest. They’re wild and picky about where they grow.
Where to find the truffle ingredients I used in the recipe
I used Noubess Truffle Olive Oil and Urbani Truffles Truffle Thrills, Black Truffles, and Mushrooms. Go to your favorite stores for these two ingredients. Noubess.com and Amazon.com.
How to make the recipe
- First, boil the pasta and don’t forget to season the water with salt.
- While the pasta is boiling, start making the bechamel sauce by melting the butter. Add the flour, mix well. Slowly add the whole milk. Being to a boil and season. Mix the grated cheese with the truffle. Add the mixed cheese to the sauce. Follow the instructions below to make the bechamel sauce.
- Mix the pasta first with the truffle oil and then with the creamy cheesy sauce and bake.
- Serve with additional Truffle sauce.
Sources:
https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/ss/slideshow-eat-pasta
The recipe has been adapted from Williams-Sonoma: https://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/truffled-mac-and-cheese.html
Here’s the recipe:
Truffle Mac and Cheese
Equipment
Ingredients
- Unsalted butter for baking dish plus 4 Tbs. (1/2 stick)
- Salt to taste
- 1 lb elbow macaroni cut ziti or other medium-size pasta shells
- 2 tsp Noubess White Truffle Infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil or any other White Truffle Infused Olive Oil
- 1 tbsp Black Truffles and Mushrooms Sauce (store-bought sauce)
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
- 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup half-and-half
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- Dash of nutmeg
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Gruyère cheese
- 1 1/2 cups shredded white cheddar cheese
- 2 tbsp minced fresh chives or 1 stalk minced scallions
- Top with additional Black Truffles and Mushrooms sauce
- 2 tbsp minced fresh chives or 1 stalk minced scallions
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 375°F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
- Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the macaroni and cook, stirring occasionally, until not quite al dente, about 2 minutes less than the package instructions. Drain and transfer to a large bowl. While the pasta is still warm, drizzle with truffle oil and stir well.
- Return the saucepan to medium-high heat and melt the 4 Tbs. butter. Add the flour, paprika and mustard and cook, stirring well, until no visible flour remains, 1 to 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk, half-and-half and a generous pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Simmer, whisking frequently to smooth out any lumps, for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Add a pinch of pepper, dash of nutmeg, 1 tablespoon Black Truffles and Mushrooms sauce and 1 cup each of the Gruyère cheese and white cheddar cheese. Stir until smooth.
- Pour the cheese sauce onto the macaroni, add the chives or scallion (if using) and stir well. Transfer to the prepared baking dish and top with the remaining cheeses. Bake until the top is lightly browned and the sauce is bubbly, 25 to 30 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Serves 6.
Notes
Nutrition
Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used.
Nutrition info is automatically generated and provided as a courtesy and as an estimate only.
