Featured Wisconsin Cheeses: Benedictine
By The Busy Hedonist
I have a weakness for macaroni and cheese, in all its warm, gooey, cheesy glory. And while I have fond memories of eating frozen Howard Johnson’s macaroni and cheese (with the crunchy topping) at my grandmother’s house when I was a child, I like mine homemade now, and a bit grown up. Which is how I found myself foraging for truffles in New York City. Why not add a few shavings of this magic mushroom for an extra special version of macaroni and cheese? It might be a culinary cliché in this city of dressed up food, but truffles…well they’re hard to turn down. And added to macaroni and cheese, they can turn an ordinary dish into an elegant one.
I was excited to finally have an excuse to buy this priciest of mushrooms. I’ve eaten my fair share of them at restaurants and enjoyed spending time in the Umbria region of Italy during truffle season. But I’ve never bought a whole one, so I felt like I was on a special mission as I called around to price them. I ended up buying a small black truffle at Citarella—the white one was well beyond my budget. The gentlemen who packaged it up for me (in a plastic dish with rice) escorted the truffle over to the cashier like it was precious bounty.
The cheese I used: Wisconsin Benedictine, a mix of cow, sheep and goat milk cheese that brought an earthiness to the dish. I bought it online and it added to the cream, milk, butter, egg mixture. Why hold back when making a dish like this? Serve with wine. It’s supposed to “cut the fat” as my grandmother would say.
Macaroni and Cheese with Shaved Black Truffle
Serves 6
Ingredients:
1/2 pound elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 cups milk
1 cup cream
1/2 teaspoon of paprika
1 egg
3/4 pound Wisconsin Benedictine Cheese, cubed
1 small truffle, shaved or sliced into small flecks
Pinch of sea salt, to taste
Fresh-ground pepper, to taste (I add a lot)
Topping:
3 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup panko (Japanese) bread crumbs
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to package directions, making sure it’s al dente, as it will continue to cook when you bake it. Drain the pasta and set aside.
In a pot, melt butter along with flour and mustard, whisking to combine so there are no lumps. Add milk, cream and paprika, and simmer for about 5 minutes. Stir in egg and then cheese, stirring until the cheese melts. Add truffle shavings, a pinch of salt and fresh-ground pepper to taste. Add in the cooked and drained macaroni, stir to coat. Transfer to a casserole dish.
In a small pan melt butter with breadcrumbs until combined. Top macaroni with breadcrumb mixture and bake for 30-35 minutes.
Print This Post
Benedictine, Macaroni & Cheese, Recipe, Wisconsin Cheese
Leave a Reply
[...] is my recipe for macaroni & cheese with black truffles on the “30 days, 30 ways with macaroni & cheese” web site. [...]