Orecchiette means “small ears” in Italian and it describes the shape of this pasta. I love it with a cheese sauce because it holds the sauce so well in its tiny little pockets… it’s like getting a bite of melted cheese in every spoonful.
Ingredients:
1 box of Orecchiette Pasta
8 cups of boiling water
1 Tbsp of salt
1 Tbsp of olive oil
2 cups of sliced mushrooms (I used Baby Bella Mushrooms)
3 Tbsp of butter
3 Tbsp of flour
1/2 of heavy cream
1 1/2 cups of milk
1 tsp of nutmeg
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 Cups of Fontina Cheese, shredded
1 cup of Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
1 Tbsp of truffle oil
Begin by boiling water for pasta. Add salt. Add pasta and cook until al dente.
In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter. Add flour and stir into a roux, cooking for just a minute or two until it becomes a paste. Add cream. Use a whisk to combine. Once cream is absorbed, add milk and whisk continuously over heat until all lumps are gone.
Add nutmeg and season. (This will need a lot of salt!) Add cheeses and stir until the cheese is melted, reserving some parmesan cheese for the topping.
Add in 1 cup of pasta water to thin the sauce a bit. Then add drained pasta and stir. Transfer to a well-greased baking pan. Top with breadcrumbs, reserved parmesan cheese, 3 dabs of butter and truffle oil.
Place in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.
