This Black Truffle Pasta recipe is gourmet comfort food at its finest. Featuring a creamy carbonara-like sauce flavored with black truffle butter, golden-brown sautéed mushrooms, and ofcourse shavings of fresh truffle (which is optional but so very fancy).
Table of contents
Ingredients in Truffle Pasta
- Parmesan cheese: make sure you use high-quality grated Parmesan.
- Large eggs
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Shiitake mushrooms (or a mix of mushrooms)
- Spaghetti, bucatini, or tagliatelle
- Truffle butter (homemade or purchased)
- Fresh black or white truffle
How to make truffle pasta
The process for making this truffle pasta is very similar to the process of making carbonara (no truffle cream sauce here)
This recipe is all about process. It’s a simple process (takes just about 30 minutes), but it’s important to follow top to bottom, switching up the steps won’t work for this pasta dish!
- Combine the cheese, yolks, eggs, and pepper; set aside.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Spaghetti on standby.
- Meanwhile, cook the mushrooms until golden brown. Transfer mushrooms to a plate and reserve for later.
- Cook spaghetti 2 minutes less than package directions specify.
- Reserve 1¾ cups pasta cooking water. Do not forget this step! I repeat, reserve pasta cooking water. Drain the pasta.
- Add 1 cup of the reserved cooking water and the truffle butter to now empty pot (which the mushrooms were cooked in). Add the pasta and cook until al dente and liquid has reduced by half.
- Whisk ¼ cup of the reserved pasta water into the cheese and egg mixture, then add the mixture to Combine the grated Parmesan, egg yolks, eggs, and pepper; set aside.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil with spaghetti on standby.
- While the water comes to a boil, cook the mushrooms until golden brown. Transfer the mushrooms to a plate and reserve for later.
- Cook the spaghetti 2 minutes less than package directions specify.
- Reserve 1¾ cups pasta cooking water. Do not forget this step! I repeat, reserve pasta cooking water. Drain the pasta.
- Add the truffle butter and 1 cup of the reserved cooking water to now empty pot (which the mushrooms were cooked in). Add the pasta and cook until al dente and liquid has reduced by half.
- Whisk ¼ cup of the reserved pasta water into the cheese and egg mixture, then add the mixture to the pan with the pasta and cook, tossing the pasta and sauce gently but continuously until sauce is thickened and silky.
- Add additional reserved pasta water by 1–2 tablespoon increments until the sauce is similar in thickness to heavy cream. You may add quite a bit of the reserved cooking water and that’s OK!
- Stir in the mushrooms and serve with sliced/shaved truffles.
Variations on this recipe:
- Use a mixture of wild mushrooms.
- Add crispy pancetta.
- Use truffle oil instead of truffle butter.
- Serve seared scallops over top.
- Use white pepper instead of black pepper for a more “perfumy” flavor.
What to serve with this pasta:
- Herbed Green Salad
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts
- Sautéed Green Beans
- Simple Fennel Salad
- Green Salad with Oranges and Candied Pistachios
Black Truffle Pasta with Shiitake Mushrooms
Description
A carbonara-like pasta flavored with black truffle butter, Parmesan, and sauteéd mushrooms. It's simple yet spectacularly creamy and comforting. Serve with fresh shavings of black truffle or add an extra slice of black truffle butter to finish.
Ingredients
- 4 large egg yolks
- 2 large eggs
- 2 ounces grated Parmesan + more for serving ½ cup
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 8 ounces shiitake mushrooms trimmed and sliced into ¼ inch-thick slices
- Kosher salt
- 1 pound dry bucatini spaghetti, or tagliatelle
- 2 tablespoons truffle butter homemade or purchased
- 1 truffle black or white, shaved or thinly sliced
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Whisk egg yolks and eggs in a medium bowl until no streaks remain, whisk in Parmesan; season with pepper.
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium-high. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer mushrooms to a plate.
- Season boiling water with 2 tablespoons kosher salt, add pasta and cook 2 minutes less than package instructions, stirring occasionally. Measure out 1 ¾ cups pasta cooking water. Add 1 cup cooking water and truffle butter to Dutch oven; bring mixture to a boil over medium-high. Drain pasta then transfer to Dutch oven.
- Cook pasta, stirring and gently tossing constantly with tongs, until al dente and water is reduced by about half; about 2 minutes. Remove pot from heat.
- Whisk ¼ cup reserved pasta cooking water into egg mixture. Slowly stream egg mixture into pasta, stirring and gently tossing constantly with tongs, until cheese is melted and egg is thickened to form a glossy sauce on the pasta.
- Thin sauce with remaining ½ cup reserved pasta cooking water, adding a 1–2 tablespoons at a time, until consistency of heavy cream is reached. Season to taste with additional truffle butter and salt.
- Mix in mushrooms and divide pasta among serving bowls. Top with thin shavings of truffle, ground pepper and additional parmesan.
Equipment
Notes
This pasta is best served immediately.
Reheat leftovers on the stovetop over medium heat. Add water or cream (or reserved pasta cooking water if you have it!) to loosen as needed.
Nutrition
Serving: 1/4 of the recipeCalories: 581kcalCarbohydrates: 65gProtein: 25gFat: 25gSaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 400mgSodium: 244mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1g
Did you make this recipe?Leave a comment below and tag @ZestfulKitchen on Instagram and hashtag it #zestfulkitchen!
This recipe was originally published on December 23, 2020. It was most recently updated on February 11, 2022.
