Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Truffley Goodness!

So after a week of craving truffled mac 'n cheese, I finally bought all the ingredients necessary...at least I thought I did.  After sweating it out for an hour and half at Bikram, I decided to suck it up and march across town, for that yummy gooey truffly goodness, through the oven this city has become of late, to Reading Terminal to buy all the mac 'n cheese necessities. I come home exhausted, barely able to contain my excitement or my stomach only to find out I forgot the fresh peas :-( .  Now I know what you're thinking, just make it without the peas, but NO, I cannot and will not bake truffle mac 'n cheese without the sweet crunchiness of peas, which contrast perfectly against the salty prosciutto, soft crunchy carrots and velvety rich truffle oil, all embedded in a sea of fontina, parmiganno, and aged cheddar!


So I guess I'll just have to resort to option #2: Veggies enchilorittos. If you haven't already figured it out, it's a combination of enchiladas and burritos with my own homemade sauce!!! According to The Suitor, it's the best Mexican dish he's ever had, minus everything we ate in Mazatlan!    


Recipes are below and pics to follow soon!


Truflle Mac 'n Cheese:


Butter
Macaroni noodles (or whatever you prefer - my favorite are the spirelli, which allows for the cheese and peas to creep into the crevices) 
1.5 cups Heavy Cream
2.5 cups Reduced Fat Milk
2 tsp All-Purpose Flour
Salt & Pepper
2 cups Fontina Cheese (grated)
3/4 cup Parmesan (grated)
3/4 Extra Sharp Aged Cheddar
6 strips of Prosciutto
1/4 cup Truffle Oil
1 cup Shiitake Mushrooms
2 cups Fresh Peas or frozen (I prefer fresh and also add chopped and deveined pieces of the shell)
****


Preheat the over to 450 degrees.


Cook the noodles in salted water until tender, but not too tender (approximately 5-6 minutes). While the noodles cook, butter the baking dish.  Remove the noodles from water, reserve the water to flash-boil the carrots and peas.  Chop the carrots and boil for approximately 3-4 minutes, then boil the peas and it's shells for 2 minutes.  Remove from water and shock in ice water, so they retain their crunchiness and vibrant color.


Whisk the cream, milk, little bit of salt & pepper.  Add half of the fontina, parmesan and cheddar.  Add noodles, carrots, peas, & mushrooms to the mixture and transfer to baking dish.  Mix the remaining cheeses together and sprinkle over the noodle mixture.  Bake for about 20 minutes, until cheese melts and top beings to brown.  Let stand for about 10-15 minutes, and right before serving I like to mix in the prosciutto so it retains its texture.


Bon Appetit!











1 comment:

  1. if we're in the same city again with an oven, i would love to be a guinea pig for this dish (and watch you cook it!!)

    ReplyDelete