Black Truffle Mac & Cheese
Yield
6-8
RECIPE Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ cup shallots, minced
- 12 cloves roasted garlic
- 4 cups heavy cream
- 1½ tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped and cleaned from stems
- 1½ tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped and cleaned from stems
- ¼ cup Sherry wine
- ¼ cup brandy
- 3 tablespoons Summer Truffle Peelings, and liquid from the can
- 1 cup good Parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup White Truffle Flavored Oil
- 1 teaspoon Tabasco
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1½ cups Fontina cheese, finely grated
- 1 pound Gemelli noodles, cooked in salted water and drained
- 1½ to 2 cups seasoned bread crumbs
- Grated Parmesan cheese
Recipe notes
Chef Dave Martin made this ultra-creamy, over-the-top macaroni and cheese famous when he appeared as a contestant the TV cooking competition Top Chef.
RECIPE Preparation
- In a stock pot or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over a medium flame. Add shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until they start to caramelize. Add thyme and oregano, stirring to combine. Turn the heat up to medium-high, add roasted garlic, and continue to cook, about 2 minutes. Carefully add sherry and brandy, and scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Return the heat to medium. Stir in truffle peelings, along with the liquid from the can. Slowly stir in the cream, Tabasco, 1 cup of Parmesan cheese, and truffle-flavored oil. Continue to cook, until the cream has thickened, about 15 minutes.
- Temper the egg. In a small bowl, while whisking, slowly add hot cream mixture, a few teaspoons at a time, to bring the egg up to temperature without cooking it. Whisk tempered egg into the cream mixture. Continue cooking until the mixture coats the back of a spoon and then remove from heat.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together cooked and drained noodles and fontina cheese. Add the reduced cream mixture, stirring to completely coat all of the noodles. Pour into 10-ounce ramekins.
- Stir the remaining parmesan cheese into the breadcrumbs. Top each ramekin with the breadcrumb mixture.
- Put the ramekins on a lipped sheet pan and bake until lightly golden and heated all the way through.
