Well it’s a light Friday, but I need to share a heavy, but utterly delicious recipe.  When I first read it, I immediately dismissed it. Too rich.  But then I thought, if I make it for company, and we all share a little taste – well then I could justify it.  As I read more of the article and recipe I ironically realized it was from a restaurant that my husband and I had eaten at on our one and only trip to Maui several years ago.  That restaurant is called Hali’imaile General Store – a lovely, quaint restaurant that sits in sugarcane fields.

A number of higher end restaurants feature similar recipes – I’ve sampled this at the Capital Grille for instance.  For my 21st anniversary recently, I was at a restaurant that also featured this on their menu as an almost $30 entree.

Any guesses?  I’m talking about the ultimate mac n’ cheese – Truffle Macaroni and Cheese with Lobster.  

Here’s the recipe:

6 T Butter

1/4 cup sliced onion

1 T Coarsely chopped shallot

1 Clove garlic, smashed

1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns

3.5 cups heavy cream

3 cups half and half

2 T Flour

1.5 cups grated sharp white cheddar cheese

1/2 cup grated fontina cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1.5 pounds of penne pasta

1 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

1 T chopped fresh chives

1 T chopped fresh parsely

3 T truffle oil

2.5 cups cubed lobster meat, if desired

In saucepan over medium heat, melt 1 T butter.  Add onion, shallot, garlic; cook for 2 minutes or until onion wilts.  Add peppercorns, heavy cream, half and half.  Decrease heat to low; simmer 10 minutes. Remove cream mixture from heat (it will smell scrumptious, by the way); carefully strain mixture through fine strainer into bowl with pouring spout.  Discard vegetables.  In same saucepan over medium high heat, melt 3 T butter.  Add flour, whisk into buter. Continue to stir, cooking mixture for 2 minutes or until flour changes color from white to beige.  Slowly add cream mixture, whisking constantly.  Continue to cook and stir until mixture thickens, about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Add all cheeses and stir, blending cheeses into sauce.  Season with salt and pepper.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease oven proof casserole dish.  In large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta about 8 to 10  minutes until al dente.  While pasta is cooking, in saute pan over medium high heat, melt remaining 2 T butter.  Add panko and saute until panko is golden brown, about 3 minutes.  Remove pan from heat; add parsley and chives and mix together.  When pasta is cooked to just al dente, drain it and save 1/2 cup pasta water.  Transfer pasta into large bowl; pour sauce over pasta.  With wooden spoon, incorporate sauce into pasta, making sure sauce gets into tubes of pasta.  If sauce is too thick, add a few tbsp pasta water to thin.  Add lobster at this point, if desired.

Pour pasta into casserole dish.  Top with panko mixture.  Place casserole in oven 12- 15 minutes, or until heated through. (I made earlier in the day and refrigerated, so it probably needs a good 45 minutes in the oven to heat through if you do that). Remove from oven; with a knife, poke holes all over casserole from top to bottom.  Drizzle truffle oil over top through holes. Let sit for 2 minutes and serve.  Serves 8.

Literally to die for ….