Truffled Mac & Cheese in Idividual Gratin Dishes

Well, it is no wonder that the Creamware Gratin Dishes (and Tart Pans) were the first things to go last Friday for the launch of my Fall products.  We all love the idea of something simple to add fresh inspiration to our kitchen and menus.  I also think it had something to do with the fact that they were filled with Truffled Mac & Cheese.  Now that so many of you have these on the way to your house (most were sent yesterday, some today!) I thought it best to post the recipe... because this is the first thing you're going to make, right?  I also think they'll make perfect individual apple cobblers topped with ice cream... or banana split bowls.

Creamware Gratin Dishes, Set of 6, $30

For those of you that missed them last Friday, I've reordered another shipment (of Creamware Tart Pans & Gratin Dishes!), expected to arrive here on Friday.  You can order them from my store now, but be aware that they are not able to ship until next Monday.



These are great along side a steak for a comfy dinner at home, or a fancy dinner party.  They can be made a day or two in advance, making them great for entertaining.

The best news about this recipe is that it is a very simple tweak to any existing Mac and Cheese recipe you like.  The basic idea is to add the flavor of White Truffles (from butter or oil) and to make it look as truffly as possible by using tiny pieces of mushrooms.  Truffle oil is easier to find than truffle butter, but both can be found at Whole Foods.  Be sure to get the White Truffle products instead of black, for the better flavor.

Truffled Mac & Cheese
makes 4-5 side servings

1/2 box of shaped pasta (shells or cavatapi)
sea salt
...
1/2 stick of butter
3 mushrooms, minced
1 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup of flour
2 cups of milk
1 cup of white cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup of monterey jack cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons of truffle oil OR 4 tablespoons of truffle butter
salt & pepper, as needed

Cook pasta in boiling, salted water.  Strain.

In a medium saucepan, melt butter, add minced mushrooms and saute for 3-4 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.  Add flour, stir to coat mushrooms and garlic until flour is absorbed into the butter.  Cook for 1-2 minutes.  Add milk immediately, then stir constantly until all flour is mixed into the milk.  Continue to cook on medium until it thickens and is bubbly.  Remove from heat and add most of the shredded cheese, but reserve some for the top.  Stir cheese in until smooth, then fold is pasta until it is all coated.  Add truffle oil or butter in and stir until melted or mixed in.

Spoon pasta into small baking dishes and top each with shredded cheese and set aside.

If serving immediately, place under hot broiler in oven for 2-3 minutes until cheese on top is bubbly and slightly browned.

If you are making them ahead, keep in the refrigerator, then bake in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, just until heated through and slightly browned on top.

Get the mushrooms as small as possible.  They should look like flakes or bits in the sauce.

For making cheese sauce, I always shred my own cheese.  Pre-shredded cheese is usually coated with something to keep the shreds from sticking, but prohibits smooth melting.

After sautéing mushrooms and garlic, add flour.

Then mix in flour, immediately.

Then add milk while stirring - whisking helps too - until smooth.  When it bubbles and starts to thicken, remove from heat.

Add cheese into the milk and stir until smooth, then fold in pasta.

Top with cheese - or breadcrumbs, if you'd like.

This is our favorite dinner - balsamic vinaigrette tossed greens, seared steaks and truffled mac and cheese.

Hope you try it soon!  Here is the link for the Creamware Gratin Dishes, $30 for a Set of 6.  I can't wait to play with more ideas for these this Fall.

Homemade Pasta with White Truffle Butter Cream Sauce | Pasta with Truffle Cream

Homemade Pasta is not nearly as daunting as it might seem.  As a person that uses store-bought pie crust and boxed cakes mixes, I'm definitely not an 'everything from scratch' purist - by any stretch.  But when Mike and I went to Italy on our honeymoon, we discovered fresh pasta.  When we came back home, the only way we could get the authentic pappardelle and tagliatelle pasta we had had was to make it ourselves. 

For most of our special occasions, instead of heading out to a restaurant we spend the evening with a bottle of wine and our pasta rolling machine.  This year for our 1st Anniversary I was 8 months pregnant and we had a snow storm headed our way in New England.  Going out was not an option... not a fun sounding one, anyway.  We stayed in, started a fire, Mike opened a bottle of wine (for himself) and I got out the pasta roller.

This is our pasta roller machine - it was around $60 from Williams-Sonoma.  It is very simple to use!

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Homemade Pasta Recipe
easier than you think!

2 cups of flour
3 eggs

Start with a KitchenAid mixer fitted with the dough hook.  Dump in the flour, then top with the eggs.  Put the mixer on medium and let the ingredients roll together until they form a ball.

*You may need to add a little bit (1-3 tablespoons?) of water or flour if the dough is too wet or too dry.  After a ball is formed, let the dough 'knead' on low-medium  in the mixer for 5-7 minutes until the dough is elastic.  Cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit for 20 minutes.

When it is finished kneading, turn the dough out onto a floured board and kneed it by hand a couple of times.

From this stage, you can roll it out by hand with a rolling pin (or bottle of wine!), or put it through a pasta rolling machine.  Either way is pretty simple.  I've recently invested in this pasta machine that was very inexpensive.  If you plan to make a lot of pasta in the future it can make things a little easier.

Separate the dough into 6 pieces.  Flour the machine and dough well to keep it from sticking.  Feed it through the rolling/flattening part of the machine starting on the largest setting and progressing to a smaller setting each time you feed the dough through.  I find that flouring it each time helps to keep it from sticking.  After it has gone through the smallest (or 2nd to the smallest) setting, lay it flat.

Attach the tagliatelle (small square cut long pasta, pictured above) cutting attachment.  Feed the long flat sheets through, creating long strands of spaghetti type pasta.  Set aside in a dry area until ready to cook in boiling water.

Cook in a large pot of boiling salted water for 30 seconds, until the pasta is light in color and floating.

Truffle Cream Sauce
easy indulgence, serves 6

2 cups of heavy cream
6 ounces of white truffle butter (or 3 oz. truffle oil)
black pepper

Prepare a large pot of water to cook pasta.  Add salt.  

In a saucepan, heat cream for 5 minutes on medium - until slightly bubbling.  When the cream is bubbling, reduce heat to low.  Add truffle butter, stir to melt.

Add pasta to the boiling water.  After 30 seconds, remove the pasta from the water (with tongs) and place it immediately into the truffle cream sauce.  Toss and stir to coat.  Add a small amount of black pepper.  Serve immediately!

We love a simple, seared steak along side our truffle pasta.  For the step-by-step directions for how to perfectly sear a steak in a skillet, click here.

Truffled Potatoes | Roasted Truffled Potatoes for Holiday Dinner Party | Recipes

Roasted Truffled Potatoes
serves 6

Easy and Elegant!  Add a special touch to your roasted potatoes for the holidays.  This is a great side dish to serve with Beef Tenderloin (get the recipe here!) for a Holiday Dinner Party.



3 pounds of red or fingerling potatoes
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 tablespoon of sea salt
1/2 tablespoon of cracked pepper
2 tablespoons of truffle oil

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Slice potatoes into wedges (about 6-8 from each potato).  Place them on a baking sheet.  Drizzle olive oil, salt and pepper over them.  Toss to coat.  Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are tender and beginning to brown.

Remove from oven.  Drizzle truffle oil over the potatoes.  Serve.