This recipe for my Truffled Mac ‘n’ Cheese, served with crusty bread and a good red, will brighten up even the coldest winter night.
It’s been a long, cold winter this year on our hill, so I’ve been spoiling us occasionally with some indulgent meals, and this Truffled Mac ‘n’ Cheese recipe was certainly a favourite. Winter has been quite wild in South Australia this year. In the 15 years we’ve lived up in the Adelaide Hills we’d never lost a tree on our property – until this year, when we’ve lost three. We’ve had icy temperatures that have struggled to get up into double digits for days (sometimes weeks) at a time, more rain than I’ve ever seen (and frequently a bit more than the gutters can cope with), horizontal hail storms, power blackouts that have gone on for over 24 hours and snow on Mt Lofty.
One morning I went outside and the water which pools three inches deep in the canopy of our ute was frozen solid – now that’s cold.
Our two dogs are getting old and feeling the chill, especially our Wolfhound who was very sick with pneumonia for several weeks, meaning they are both now inside dogs. They are thrilled to bits about this – me, not so much. I’m a bit over the doggy smell in the house and the vast amount of hair they shed. I swear I could knit another dog with what I vacuum up off the carpet every second day.
Molly, home after 3 days in dog hospital, but still feeling miserable.
So it won’t come as much of a surprise to you to know I’ve turned to food for comfort – and one of everyone’s favourite comfort dishes is macaroni and cheese. It’s even better when poshed up with the rich, earthy scent of truffles.
I used the clever Magimix Cook Expert (which I reviewed a few weeks back) to make the preparation for this dead simple, but any bechamel sauce will be a great basis for this recipe.
Truffle season is pretty much done and dusted by this time of the year, but if you purchase a good quality truffle oil you can stretch the truffle love out well past season’s end. Be fussy when buying truffle oil and don’t bother with anything cheap – it’s just not worth it. Take care when adding it to your sauce. Begin with a teaspoon full and then add more to taste if required.
Serve this with some crusty bread and a good red wine and you’ve got true gourmet comfort food.
Truffled Mac 'n' Cheese
Ingredients
- 200 gms elbow pasta
- 500 mls milk
- 50 gms butter
- 50 gms pl flour
- 70 gms cheddar cheese grated
- 70 gms gruyere cheese grated
- 100 gms fresh grated parmesan cheese
- 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
- Ground black pepper
- ground nutmeg
- truffle oil
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in boiling water for 10-15 minutes, until just cooked.
- Preheat oven to 180C (350F).
- Grease an oven proof dish.
- Place the milk, butter, plain flour, black pepper and a good pinch of nutmeg into the metal Magimix Cook Expert bowl and run EXPERT program for 9 minutes/speed 4/95C.
- When the program has finished add the cheddar, gruyere and HALF the parmesan to the bowl and run EXPERT program for 1 minute/speed 2A.
- Remove bowl from base and stir in truffle oil to taste. Add the cooked pasta and mix through.
- Pour into prepared dish, combine the breadcrumbs with the remaining grated parmesan and sprinkle evenly over the top.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the top is golden brown and crisp.
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I love macaroni and cheese and so does my husband . It is real comfort food. I hope Molly is feeling better.
Friends gave us a bottle of truffle oil and now I have another use for it. Thanks and pats for the dogs.
Love, love, love mac n cheese, but I think I am truffled out this year. xxx
YES!!!!!!! 🙂
I can tell you I would need a bucket of this mac and cheese to make me happy in that cold Amanda. You have had a harsh one. Love your darling doggy xx
Sorry to hear about your trees not coping with the cold – we finally had a few warm days and then today was so cold my teeth were chattering when I went to the car to drive home tonight. It is excellent weather for cooking a nice warming meal and I agree that mac and cheese is excellent – I have just used the rest of some truffle oil I bought overseas and am now tempted to buy more just to make some mac and cheese like this (though our weather is so fickle I’d have to choose my days!)
I’m also from Adelaide South…. thanks for the macaroni and cheese recipe. Can you tell me what brand of truffle oil is considered would you consider buying and where would I get it.
Truffle oil is widely available, but check the label to see what you are getting.
Since you have now had both the Magimix and the Kitchenaid for some time, can you say which one you actually prefer.
Hmmm – I think I’d have to say the Magimix. It is more intuitive to use and very responsive, I love the insulated bowl, so things stay warm, I like the glass lid so I can see everything happening and I like that I don’t need to haul out another appliance if I want to use the processor.
Thank you so much for your response…I purchased a Magimix today, what a lot of goodies to find homes for. Now to begin learning how to cook again. One thing that I was not impressed with the Kitchenaid was that you had to lift the large pot over the front hump (instrument panel) of the machine.