An incredibly quick and simple recipe, as long as you can source a decent truffle!

In the UK, a 30g black truffle might go for £40-50, but if you have a contact in Italy ;) they can get you one for around €10 when in season! White and black truffles are so naturally tasty, any dish rarely needs more flavours. Often, a fatty base such as butter, lard or olive oil really brings that flavour out.

This recipe can be done with either black or white truffle. Both have a very different flavour, but the white ones will likely set you back twice as much in terms of price.

Ingredients

  • Fresh tagliatelle (see the tagliatelle recipe)
  • A large knob of butter
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • A white or black truffle

Method

Set the tagliatelle to cook in boiling, salted water and melt the knob of butter on a low heat. The heat should be high enough to melt the butter but not enough for it to start sizzling.

Add a generous twist of pepper and salt, and either grate or slice the truffle into the pan.

Use half as much truffle as you intend to use in total, as the rest we will grate on top of the finished dish.Personally I prefer to grate it as this releases a lot more flavour, but be careful to keep the heat low. You do not want to fry the truffle!

Once the pasta is cooked, lift it out of the pan with a pasta spoon and drop it into the pan with the truffle. Do not worry about draining all the water off the pasta as you move it from one pan to the other, as this will help keep the dish moist.

Once the sauce and pasta are thoroughly mixed, serve and grate the rest of the truffle on top.