Pasta · Semplice
Tagliatelle with Truffle and Sage Butter
Tagliatelle al Tartufo
- Preparation
- 10 min
- Cooking
- 10 min
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Semplice
In the hills of Alba and the oak woods of Umbria, the truffle is treated less as an ingredient than as an event. Here it meets ribbons of egg pasta and a quiet butter scented with sage — a dish of perhaps six elements, where restraint is the entire technique. Nothing should stand between the truffle and the fork.
- 01
Scent the butter
Melt the butter in a wide pan over low heat with the crushed garlic and sage leaves. Let it barely murmur for three minutes until the sage crisps at the edges and the kitchen smells of an autumn wood. Remove the garlic and set the pan aside.
- 02
Cook the tagliatelle
Boil the pasta in generously salted water — fresh tagliatelle needs only two to three minutes. Before draining, reserve a cup of the starchy cooking water; it is the binding agent of the entire sauce.
- 03
Marry pasta and butter
Transfer the tagliatelle directly into the sage butter with a splash of pasta water. Toss over low heat until a silken emulsion coats every ribbon, adding water a spoonful at a time. The sauce should cling, never pool.
- 04
Add the truffle
Off the heat, fold in the Parmigiano and half the truffle carpaccio with the truffle oil. Heat is the enemy of truffle aroma, so work quickly and gently. Taste and season with a whisper of black pepper.
- 05
Crown each plate
Twirl the pasta into warm bowls and lay the remaining truffle over the top so its perfume rises with the steam. Finish with the crisped sage leaves and a last dusting of Parmigiano.
To Serve
Serve at once, in shallow warmed bowls, while the truffle aroma is at its peak. This is a dish for the first quiet minutes of a dinner, before conversation resumes.
With Wine
Pour a Barolo or a mature Barbaresco — Nebbiolo’s rose and tar notes share a birthplace with the truffle, and the affinity is unmistakable.
Per serving
- Energy
- 610 kcal
- Protein
- 17 g
- Carbohydrate
- 62 g
- Fat
- 33 g
