Recipe • 15 May 2016

Truffled macaroni and cheese

Try this free recipe from Rodney Dunn’s The Truffle Cookbook.

TRUFFLED MACARONI AND CHEESE

Serves 6

Ingredients

300 g macaroni
800 ml milk
1 fresh bay leaf
100 g butter
100 g (2/3 cup) plain flour
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
100 g mature cheddar, coarsely grated
130 g gruyère, coarsely grated
80 g (1 cup) finely grated parmesan
20 g finely grated black truffle
120 g (1 2⁄3 cup) fresh breadcrumbs
Crusty bread and green salad, to serve (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil over high heat, add the macaroni and boil for about 8 minutes or until the macaroni is tender. Drain and set aside.

Heat the milk in a saucepan with the bay leaf until just warm – you don’t want it to boil. Melt the butter in a separate saucepan over medium high heat until foamy, then add the flour and stir constantly for 1–2 minutes until the mixture leaves the side of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and add the warm milk a little at a time, whisking after each addition until smooth and combined. Return the pan to medium heat and stir until the mixture begins to boil. Add the nutmeg and season to taste. Add the macaroni, cheddar, gruyère and half the parmesan and stir until melted and combined. Remove and discard the bay leaf, then stir in the grated truffle.

Spoon the macaroni cheese into a 3 litre baking dish and scatter over the breadcrumbs and remaining parmesan. Place in the oven and bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown. (Alternatively, spoon the mixture into smaller dishes for individual servings, scatter over the breadcrumbs and parmesan and bake for 25–30 minutes.) Serve immediately with crusty bread and a green salad, if you like.