What if I told you there was an inexpensive way to make truffle pasta for your next date night? I promise you won’t have to break the bank. My secret is truffle oil. My dad lives in France and he bought me a bottle. I was surprised to know that it’s quite inexpensive and lasts lasts a lifetime and little goes a long way. So instead of spending a lot on fresh truffles , buy a small bottle of truffle oil. You can get it on amazon or in specialty stores. I made this for my husband on our anniversary and he loved it! In fact my son took it for a picnic and all the 5 kids demolished it. Do not use truffle oil for cooking or making the sauce. Cooking truffle oil blunts the flavor of truffle, instead, drizzle it as a finishing oil over the pasta. You can use truffle oil in all sorts of things from your morning scrambled eggs to sautéed mushrooms and fries. I have a brilliant instant pot, one shot mashed potatoes recipe that will be so good with a drizzle of truffle oil on it.
Ingredients
Here are the simple ingredients you need to make this pasta. See the recipe card for quantities. Pasta - I have used fettuccini, spaghetti, penne and angel hair pasta with equal success. Though noodle type pasta does look better with this kind of sauce. Cream - You can use whipping cream or high fat dairy cream. Mushrooms - I have used regular button mushrooms but you can go all out with different types of mushrooms like wild mushrooms, cremini and enoki. One thing to remember though, we want the mushrooms caramelized to get the perfect flavor. To do that, they shouldn’t be wet or soaked in water for long. Truffle - If you can get your hands on fresh truffle, go ahead and shave it on top. For everyone else , use truffle enriched oil, truffle paste, truffle butter or truffle cheese. Black or white truffle oil is a great choice because its shelf stable, lasts a long time and a little goes a very long way. Herbs - I have used sage and parsley here. You can use either or both, dried or fresh. Lemon - We just need a little squeeze at the end. You can omit it if needed.
How to make truffle pasta
The recipe is quite simple. If using a stainless steel pan, here is a quick tip to make it non stick. Heat the pan will a water droplet, when dropped, almost dances instead of steaming up. Add a little oil, use a tissue to coat the whole pan. Et voila, your pan is non stick!
Step 1: Boil the Pasta
In a large pot, take 4-5 cups of water. Bring it to a boil and add ½ tablespoon of salt. The water should taste like sea water. Add the pasta and let it cook till it’s just done. Reserve a cup of pasta water. This will make the sauce stick to the pasta.
Step 2: Brown the mushrooms
Heat the pan, add butter and cook the mushrooms till they turn golden like in the picture. Do not over move the mushrooms, give them time to caramelize. Go slow. This should take 10-12 minutes.
Step 2: Make the sauce
Add half cup of pasta water to the golden mushrooms and use a spatula to get all the caramelized bits from the pan. This will make the flavor. Add the garlic, cheese and cream. Give it a mix.
Step 3: Truffle it up
Drain the water from cooked pasta. Add it to the mushroom sauce. Drizzle the truffle oil. Add freshly cracked black pepper and lemon juice. Garnish with fresh herbs and serve hot. In my dish, I also added fried sage leaves to make it look pretty. Fresh chives, parsley are great options. We make a simpler version everyday version of mushroom pasta, without the cream and truffle oil too.
Serving
I like serving this pasta with a fresh salad and a bottle of great wine. Depending on the season, you can do something like a caprese salad or a zesty arugula avocado salad. You can also serve this with warm bread and roasted garlic butter or you can make a quick batch of air fryer garlic bread.
