It was more an aromatic quality that the oil lent to the dish, which made it just slightly refined and really quite special. You’d maybe not even recognize the inclusion of the oil by taste. The cook exercised incredible restraint here. At its worst, it tastes fakes, and is too often mis- and overused. Sprinkle the flour over the melted butter and whisk the butter and flour together and around the pan until they smell toasted and look light brown 2 to 3 minutes.

Truffle oil can so easily be too strong, too aromatic, and too overpowering. Melt the butter in a large high-sided pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. If there’s anything that can be overplayed, it’s truffle oil. With such crisp and toasty caramelization, I’m never going back to breadcrumbs. Parm on the top, thrown beneath a broiler, will result in a lid to your mac that far outshines any smattering of breadcrumbs I’ve ever had. Imagine a cheesy crunchy topping, rather than one that’s bready and crunchy. There was nary a breadcrumb topping to be had in this mac n’ cheese. Definitely using provolone in my next mac n’ cheese. Stringy, indeed.) When melted, the stringy structure of this style of cheese remains, which is why your mozzarella on your pizza becomes stretchy and stringy, and why in this case, the cheese shined all the more. (Think mozzarella, the ultimate pasta filata cheese. Provolone is a “pasta filata” cheese, meaning that the curds themselves are actually pulled during the process of cheesemaking. Our Milanese waiter assured me that it was the prevalent cheese used, and then it made sense. I’ve never, ever used Provolone for mac n’ cheese.

How do you make mac n cheese