East Hampton’s Barefoot Contessa is a modern-day comfort food queen. It is no wonder that Ina Garten’s fans have come to love her homestyle dishes, whether it’s a simple beef bourguignon, a scrumptious make-ahead cheesy potato mash, or an innovative cauliflower toast dish.
With her tempting collections of easy-to-prepare meals, the Food Network star never fails to please her fans. But make no mistake, while many of Garten’s dishes are beginner-friendly, they’re dialed up to bring maximum flavor.
Take Garten’s grown-up overnight mac and cheese recipe, showing that even with a few tweaks, an old-school classic can be revived. While Gruyere cheese and sharp cheddar were enough to wow macaroni and cheese fans, Garten still felt she could elevate the dish with a special component. Thus, she sent her classic mac and cheese dish into overdrive while giving it a subtle, sophisticated twist.
The Secret Ingredient That Will Make Dinner Feel Like A Celebration
Using her overnight mac and cheese recipe as inspiration, the Barefoot Contessa revamped the classic comfort dish by adding a special ingredient: white truffle butter.
Upon reading the recipe, fans will discover that Garten prefers the winning Gruyere and cheddar combination from her overnight mac and cheese recipe. However, some shiitake and cremini mushrooms sautéed with cream sherry are added for more oomph. Despite all this, Garten claims that the white truffle butter is the star of the show.
“[It] is less expensive than you think. This is classic comfort food but so much better than you expect!” Garten stated in her post.
As she points out in her recipe, however, those who prepare this mac and cheese should only use white truffle butter. Apparently, black truffle butter tastes completely different.
The Difference Between White And Black Truffles According To Ina Garten
Garten’s response to a fan on the taste difference is a good place to start if you’re looking to know why she cautions home cooks against substituting black truffle butter.
“What is the difference in taste between white and black…which is more “trufflely?” a fan inquired.
“Black truffles tend to come from the South of France, while white truffles tend to come from Italy,” Garten explains.
“Black truffles have a much more subtle flavor, but I prefer the strong pungent flavor of white truffles. I actually only use truffle butter, which has actual truffles in it, because truffle oil can vary enormously in terms of truffle content,” she adds.
Moreover, white truffle butter is a great way to make the otherwise expensive ingredient more accessible and affordable to home cooks. This creamy, pungent butter can be used almost anywhere you would use butter, from grilled meat, pasta, or swoon-worthy toast and eggs.
So next time you’re looking to spruce up dish, take a page out of Ina Garten’s book and reach for a decadent white truffle butter!
