Tagliatelle with White Truffles

The illusive white truffle is in season, found shaved over dishes all across the "Truffle Valley" we live in.  Travelers are enamored with truffles when they visit Le Marche in the fall and rightfully so with a price tag of 3,000 Euro a kilo. We recently served a truffle themed dinner with white truffles foraged from the woods behind our farmhouse. The aroma was so pungent the earthly smell filled our house, the guests were all curious how to cook this strange mushroom. But here's the secret you don't actually cook with them, instead shaving hundreds of euro over a finished dish like a paper thin fritatta, fresh pasta, risotto or a beautiful steak.  The truffle should never touch the heat of the pan or it will kill the flavor immediately. 

So go on and hock the family silver for a plate of irresistible homemade tagliatelle and white truffles!

Tagliatelle with Truffles
Tagliatelle con Tartufi

Serves 4

400 grams fresh pasta
 white truffles - as much as you can afford
2 egg yolks
1-2 sages leaves
salt and pepper
1 pad of butter
olive oil
3-4 spoonfuls of beef broth

In a pan melt butter with olive oil on low heat. Add in sage leaves and gently cook for a minute or two.

In a pot with plenty of salted boiling water, cook pasta until al'dente. Once cooked, scoop out the pasta and place directly in the pan with sage.

Remove from heat and toss the pasta gently. Add broth and egg yolks constantly tossing the pasta in the pan to coat the past in the egg without is scrambling.  Season with salt & pepper, remove the sage.

Transfer pasta to the plates and shave truffle on-top. The truffle should never touch the heat of the pan.

Outright Divine: Porcini Risotto with Truffle Oil

This year the mushroom hunting has been prolific! Every couple days we head into the woods with the Good Doctor, Gaggi and bring home baskets full in no time! The weather conditions are just right...(A full blog post with photos to come!) So what better way to enjoy our bounty than with a rich decadent porcini risotto topped with truffle oil made by our neighbor Alessandro Rossi!

The kitchen will smell outright divine!

Porcini Risotto

Risotto di Porcini

Serves 6

4 Tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove
8 oz of fresh Porcini diced ( or other type of wild mushroom)
5 cups or so fresh vegetable stock/ chicken stock
3/4 cup dry white wine
scant 2 cups risotto rice - Arborio or Carnaroli are best
salt & pepper
Parmesan cheese
chopped Parsley to taste
Truffle Oil (use it if you got it!)

If fresh porcini are not available in your area, try using crimini or chanterelle mushroom in combination with dried porcini that have been soaked in hot water to rehydrate. Do not discard this liquid!  It will have a strong porcini taste and should be added to the stock for the rice.

Heat the oil in a pan, add the onion & garlic and sweat for 10 minutes or so over med-low heat with out browning.  Add your mushroom  and sweat them slowly until tender with a little stock to ensure that nothing burns. Season with salt and pepper.

Now raise the heat, add the rice and saute for a minute or two. Add in the wine and let it cook out.

Meanwhile, bring the stock to a boil in another pot.  Add a ladle-full of the hot stock and cook, stirring constantly, until it has been absorbed into the rice.

Continue adding the stock, a ladle-full at a time, constantly stirring until each addition has been absorbed. This will take 18-20 minutes.

When the rice is al'dente, turn off the heat, add in a handful or two of grated parmesan, a bit of chopped parsley and give the rice one more stir, check seasoning. (It's important to be still a little al'dente because it will continue cooking in the liquids even as you serve.) Rice should be thick & creamy but not runny. Cover the pot and allow the rice to sit for a couple of minutes.

To serve, spoon the rice into each bowl and drizzle with extra special truffle oil or extra virgin olive oil and serve immediately.

Before and After

Fall Farro Salad with Pomegranate, Walnut & Truffles

  A lovely fall take on a farro salad using local walnuts, pomegranates & shaved truffles atop - making it a delicious & decadent side-dish for the holidays!

 Pomegranates are packed with antioxidants and delivers amazing health benefits, combined with the off the charts nutrients in farro and the protein packed walnuts - this isn't just a Superfood but a Supersalad!

Fall Farro Salad with Pomegranate, Walnut & Truffle Salad Recipe

Insalata di farro con melagrane, noci e tartufi

Author: Jason Bartner at La Tavola Marche

serves 4-6

Ingredients:
8 ounces (250 gr) farro or spelt
vegetable scraps to cook the farro in (piece of carrot, onion, celery, etc.)
1 small head of radicchio sliced thinly
4 ounces (100gr) toasted walnuts
seeds and juice of one pomegranate
shaved truffle or truffle oil to taste
salt and pepper
2-3 tablespoons (30ml) vinegar
parmesan  shaved into ribbons
1/4 -1/3cup(100-150ml) extra virgin olive oil

Method:
In plenty of cold water boil farro with your vegetable scraps until al dente (cooked but with a bite) - about 20-35 minutes.
Drain the farro in a colander & remove vegetable scraps.  Allow to cool for a few minutes.
In a large seperate bowl combine the farro with radicchio, nuts & pomegranate seeds. Give it a good mix and season with salt & pepper.

For the dressing:
Drizzle over the salad a couple tablesspoons of vinegar followed by three times the amount of extra virigin olive oil. Do it in your minds eye, just remember the 3 to 1 ratio. You can always adjust later.
Give it another good mix.
To finish, give it a good shave of fresh truffles, if not available truffle salt or oil works well too. Top with a few pulls of a potato peeler across a wedge of parmesan.

Allow to sit for at least 20 minutes up to a day - it needs a little time for it to all come together.
Before serving - give it one last good stir, taste & adjust the seasoning - making sure the dressing is balanced (not too vinegary or oily). Serve as an antipasto or side dish.