Tagliatelle with Truffle Butter Cream Sauce

The Crooked Family was recently watching an episode of The Barefoot Contessa that included a dish intended for twenty-something year olds promising to be easy and quick but impressive. Considering ourselves Foodies, the idea of "quick and easy" is usually scoffed at...especially when the need to impress a dining guest arises. However, the recipe included three ounces of truffle butter. Intrigued by the thought of using the only thing better than butter (Truffle Butter!), the challenge was accepted.  

So, what is a Truffle when one is referring to something other than a chocolate sweet?  

 

The dictionary says:

truf·fle

ˈtrəfəl/

noun

noun: truffle; plural noun: truffles

1.    a strong-smelling underground fungus that resembles an irregular, rough-skinned potato, growing chiefly in broadleaved woodland on calcareous soils. It is considered a culinary delicacy and found, esp. in France, with the aid of trained dogs or pigs.

 

Or, Wikipedia offers:

Truffle

 

A truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean Ascomycete fungus, predominantly one of the many species of the genus Tuber. Some of the truffle species are highly prized as a food. Wikipedia

 

Is your mouth watering?  Ours weren’t either...  

 

After a little more research, we discovered there are all types of different truffles.  The "diamond of the kitchen" is revered by all Gourmets, Foodies and Chefs.  The white truffle, black truffle, summer or burgundy truffles are a few types. The Contessa advises to use white truffle butter for this recipe for the taste and look.  

The white truffle is known for the earthy, garlic aromatic properties.  It has the entire flavor of garlic, but without the sting and bite.  It is instead replaced with a smooth earthiness...in one word, heavenly.

Into Whole Foods we went, fully intending to spend too much on too little.  Honestly, it’s the food version of Disneyland.  If we don’t have a specific list and stick to it, we leave spending upwards of seventy dollars on less than ONE full bag of groceries.  It sucks, but it’s awesome.  Anyway, we spent our seventy some dollars, but the three ounces of Fabrique DÉLICES White Truffle Butter were less than thirteen of it, as we found a few cheese we just couldn’t leave without  (Yancey's Fancy champagne cheddar cheese is EPIC in the true sense of the word) and do not regret the cheese or the additional earnings spent.  The splurge also included a very good parmesan that had been pre-shaved as requested by the recipe. 

Now, the Contessa says to use Cipriani tagliarelle dried pasta or other egg fettuccine.  While we were intending to spend too much at Whole Foods, we did draw the line when the pasta needed was priced at $7.99 for less than eight ounces.  As the recipe states any egg fettuccine can work as a substitute, we went to Sprouts and purchased a decent egg tagliatelle that was on sale for sixteen ounces at $5.00. 

 

Below is the list of ingredients and directions which can also be found at http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/tagliarelle-with-truffle-butter-recipe/index.html

 

Ingredients

Kosher salt

½ cup heavy cream

3 ounces white truffle butter

Freshly ground black pepper

1 (8.82-ounce) package of Cipriani tagliarelle dried pasta or other egg fettuccine

3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

3 ounces Parmesan, shaved thin with a vegetable peeler

 

Directions

Add 1 tablespoon salt to a large pot of water and bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, in a large sauté pan (approximately 12 inches), heat the cream over medium heat until it comes to a simmer.  Add the truffle butter, 1 teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon pepper, lower the heat to very low, and swirl the butter until it melts.  Keep warm over very low heat.

Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook for 3 minutes, exactly. (If you're not using Cipriani pasta, follow the directions on the package.) When the pasta is cooked, reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water, then drain the pasta. Add the drained pasta to the sauté pan and toss it with the truffle-cream mixture. As the pasta absorbs the sauce, add as much of the reserved cooking water, as necessary, to keep the pasta very creamy.

Serve the pasta in shallow bowls and garnish each serving with a generous sprinkling of chives and shaved Parmesan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve at once.

 

I, Mrs. C, am personally paranoid about cooking cream or milk. The fear of scalding (or burning) the liquid and ruining the entire dish runs deep within me.  As a result, I was ever so attentive to the saucepan.  It was probably over kill and took longer than necessary being kept at such a low heat, but I don’t care.  When using expensive ingredients, like truffle butter, exercising a little more precaution is just fine.  And admittedly, the salt and pepper were not measured exactly, they were added to taste and it worked perfectly.  The chives were not measured either, which resulted in too much.  

With anticipation and excitement, the pasta was served and my fork began a wonderful dance; twirling steaming noodles into the perfect bite.  The delicate aroma of the white truffle butter brought the hint of earthy garlic to my palate.  The cream sauce was light and silky but full-bodied over the rich pasta.  The expensive parmesan was completely worth every penny as the salty goodness melted and blended perfectly into the dish.  The chives added the final touch, providing a brightness that put the perfect finishing touch on this meal.

When I made this dish for the secon time, the chive's presence was cut down (but still not measured, sorry, old habits die hard) and we added pan seared scallops to it as a Christmas bonus.  It was excellent!

In conclusion, the Contessa is correct and a new veneration for white truffle butter has been born.  This recipe is everything she promised as it proved to be easy, quick, impressive and most of all, absolutely delectable!