Fettuccine with Black Truffle Sauce

Last call for black winter truffles.

If you live in San Francisco you can buy them at North Beach’s Il Cilentano on Columbus. They’re also still available from online purveyors. Don’t miss out on enjoying these “Diamonds of the Kitchen.” Treat yourself, maybe even make a special romantic dinner with my simple recipe. You won’t be sorry.

You may remember Piero my “Truffle Guy” from Montevarchi, a beautiful small town halfway between Arezzo and Florence in Tuscany.

Every truffle harvest season he either brought white and black truffles to San Francisco or shipped them to Santo the former owner of North Beach’s Cavalli Cafe and currently at his Il Celentano restaurant so that we could enjoy them within a few days of coming out of the Tuscan dirt.

This year’s shipment was briefly delayed at Customs so when Santo got the black truffles he carefully cleaned them and put them in the freezer. I got a couple. They’re beautiful.

I’m making a simple black truffle sauce for fresh fettuccine sitting in my fridge. The sauce will be ready by the time you cook the fettuccine. The recipe is below.

To get you in the mood, take a peak at these episodes from the last time Piero brought the truffles to us. You’ll see me making a grated black truffle frittata and Piero shaving white truffle over veal scallopine.

If your still with me on this tartufi adventure let’s go back to the source.

A few years ago I was in Italia with friends and we visited Piero during the peak truffle season. I was so excited, another chance to connect my San Francisco experiences directly to their Italian roots.

Here’s a short clip visiting Piero and his cousin Luca where they and their sniffer dog harvest truffles.

Fettuccine with Black Truffle Sauce

Ingredients

• 5 quarts water for the pasta
• 1 tablespoon sea salt for the water or whatever salt you have in your pantry
• 1 pound fresh or imported Italian bronze-cut fettuccine
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons grated black truffle. If you have a box grater use the larger grate size not the smaller grate on the side. Otherwise use the grater you use for to grate parmigiano or other hard cheese.
• 1/4 a cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and more for grating atop each serving
• Freshly grated black pepper.
• A few black truffle shavings atop each serving.

Directions

1. Set a large pot with the water atop high heat.
2. As the water begins to simmer add the sea salt.
3. In a large sauce pan big enough to hold the pasta over medium-low heat melt the butter. Watch the heat. You don’t want to color the butter.
4. Add the grated truffle. Stir well. Keep the truffle butter warm on low heat as the pasta cooks. 
5. When the water is at a rapid boil add the pasta and stir to make sure the pasta doesn’t stick together. If fresh pasta it should only take 3 minutes or less to get to “al dente”. Don’t overcook. You still want a bit of resistance to the tooth as you test the pasta for doneness. If dried pasta follow the directions on the bag for “al dente”.
6. Increase the heat to medium-high when you’re ready to add the cooked pasta to the truffle butter sauce.
7. When the pasta is ready reserve a cup of the pasta water before you drain the pasta and add it to add it to the sauce. Mix to evenly coat the pasta.
8. Add 1/4 cup grated cheese and a few grates of black pepper. Mix well again.
9. Add some pasta water if needed to loosen the sauce.
10. Top each serving with a sprinkle of grated cheese and 2 or 3 truffle shavings, depending on how generous you feel.
11. Serve immediately.