Saturday, September 17, 2011

Tajarin with Black Truffles

Graziana from Erbe in Cucina (Cooking with Herbs) is hosting Weekend Herb Blogging and this week I'm in Piedmonte and celebrating with Black Truffles.

black truffles© by Haalo


I had hoped that truffles would be available but to my great surprise they are in plentiful supply and the first of the white truffles started appearing at the end of this week.

With such a great product you really don't need to make anything too complicated and just like last week, I'll be making my verison of a local dish - Tajarin with Black Truffles.

Tajarin is a pasta known for the copious amounts of eggs required - some recipes call for as many as 40 egg yolks to 1kg of flour! Due to both the deep colour of the egg of this region and the quantity the pasta is almost saffron coloured.

tajarin© by Haalo


Cut in long, delicate strands, they most closely resemble a fine tagliatelle.

The other ingredient is butter

Beppino Occelli Butter© by Haalo


and arguably Beppino Occelli is the best example in the region - though I am willing to experiment to see if that is accurate.

The most time consuming part of this dish will be waiting for the water to boil - the pasta takes less than a minute and combining these three ingredients produces something close to heaven.

tajarin with Black Truffles© by Haalo


Tajarin with Black Truffles

fresh tajarin
butter
freshly ground pepper
sea salt
black truffles, shaved


Prepare the truffles:
These particular truffles were purchased straight from the grower so they are still dirty. Usually shop-bought truffles will have been cleaned.
Clean them just before you are ready to use them. Using a brush (a soft toothbrush is good) and water to clean all the dirt off the outside and then dry them well in paper towels.
Use a truffle shaver to cut them as finely as possible. You'll find that you'll have little end pieces left - use a knife to chop these finely and set them to one side.

shaved black truffles© by Haalo


Make the sauce:
I'm basing this around a brown butter sauce - slowly melt the butter under a gentle heat and when it has melted add in the reserved truffles bits. Continue cooking until you see the butter start to brown and then remove the heat - season with a little freshly grated sea salt and pepper.

Cook the Pasta:
Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling, salted water - no more than a minute, if using fresh pasta. Drain.

Assemble the dish:
Return the butter sauce to the heat, add in a quarter of the shaved truffles and the drained pasta. Toss well and sprinkle in the rest of the shaved truffles - remove from the heat and then turn the pasta out into a serving bowl.
Serve at once.

5 comments

  1. This looks amazing! I'd love to have some fresh black truffles right now.

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  2. I love truffles, this pasta looks like a real treat!

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  3. A beautiful set of photos introducing dish that represents a culture. Enjoy your time in truffle land!

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  4. Ah, truffles - so divine, and setting off a craving right now.

    I hugely regret not testing Beppino Occelli when Waitrose used to sell it. Sadly, the last time I was in the UK they stopped stocking it. One day!

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  5. Thanks Joy - wish I could send you some to enjoy!

    Thanks Graziana - it's a lovely pasta, so delicate!

    Thanks Simona - am absolutely loving it and am doing my best to enjoy the food of the region

    Thanks ETL - that is shame maybe they will import it again.

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