The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Recipe from French restaurant includes smoked ham, comte,
Three decades ago, I was inducted into the Commanderie des Nobles Vins du Jura et du Comte, a bacchanalian confraternity in the Franche-Comte region of France celebrating the local wines and cheeses.
A few of us food writers from the United States took the charter’s oath to extol, whenever possible, the noble wines and cheese of the Jura. We received an embossed medal and a parchment with the seal and signatures of the three officers. The hand-lettered parchment hangs in my kitchen to this day.
During our visit to this eastern region of France, we toured wineries and cheesemaking establishments. The dedication to tradition, to quality, to the land, runs through everything. I’ve been happily cooking with creamy, tangy Comte cheese and sipping the crisp white wines ever since.
A recent trip to Paris rekindled my appreciation for Comte cheese. Like a creamier version of Swiss cheese (without the holes), Comte tastes of rich milk, with a hint of nuts, and is aged to a perfectly tangy flavor. I bought a hunk at one of my favorite cheese shops, to eat along with quince paste and a baguette. I enjoyed a 24-monthaged wedge as part of a cheese course.
The piece de resistance came at lunch at chef Alain Ducasse’s brasserie, Restaurant Champeaux in the newly renovated Les Halles shopping center.
“Coquillettes/jambon/Comte/ truffe noire.”
Easy to translate that the dish would have ham, cheese and black truffle. However, I hadn’t a clue as to a coquillette. I ordered the dish anyway.
Turns out, coquillettes are simply miniature elbow-shaped pasta. Ah, this was a fancy mac ’n’ cheese! Comfort food at its Frenchiest. And mighty delicious at that. Photos and notes taken, I brought home 3 pounds of coquillettes purchased at a market near my Airbnb.
Take no fear, the recipe that follows can be made with nearly any pasta, but using small shapes, along with the tiny dice of ham and cheese, adds to the eating pleasure. For ease, coquillettes can be ordered from Amazon. Ditto for Comte cheese. You can always skip the drizzle of truffle oil and opt for a little fruity olive oil in its place.