Pasta with Truffle Crema in Orvieto, Italy
Tuscany.. beautiful Tuscany. As I reminisce and look back on our adventures though this beautiful region, a special restaurant in Orvieto comes to mind where I experienced my first taste of taste of homemade pasta in a luscious truffle cream sauce. Tucked neatly on an ancient cliff in Orvieto, Ristorante Le Grotte del Funari was once an Etruscan cave so as you enter the front door, you ascend down a steep flight of stairs into romantic cave environment filled with beautifully set tables and sparkling wine glasses. As we sipped their beautiful local wine and sampled delicious antipasto we were presented with this platter of homemade pasta in an earthy cream sauce.
My curiosity got the best of me and so I asked our server if she could ask the chef what was were the black speckles in the cream sauce. When she came back, she brought me a sample of the truffle crema. They call it “crema al tartufo” . Below is a picture of the crema and I tasted a small bit on a piece of bread and wow…it was so packed with the flavor of truffles.
Truffle crema is a combination of mushrooms, truffles and olives blended into a thick paste. The flavors are very concentrated, so you only need only a small amount to flavor your sauce. Here are some pics to enjoy… we will be back
My recipe is a different variation on the same theme.. I added shiitake mushrooms and a small bit of minced prosciutto and I used half and half rather than heavy cream. Here is a picture of the truffle cream I purchased on Amazon.com. It tastes just like the one in Tuscany! I set up a link directly to Amazon if you want to purchase it. just click on picture.
Pasta with truffle cream sauce;
- 1 tbsp. minced onion
- 4 oz. shiitake mushrooms, sliced thinly
- 2 oz chopped prosciutto or pancetta
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1/2 cup pasta water
- 1/2 cup half and half or heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon truffle cream (crema)
- fresh parsley or basil as garnish
- grated pecorino romano cheese to sprinkle on pasta.
- 1/2 lb of your favorite pasta – (I used tagliatelle)
Boil a large pot of salted water for pasta. When it comes to a boil, add the pasta while you prepare the sauce.
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium size sauté pan. Add the minced onion, mushrooms and minced prosciutto. Saute ingredients till they are lightly caramelized. Add the half and half or heavy cream; Add a ladle of pasta sauce (1/4 cup) to lighten sauce and simmer until reduced and thickened a bit. and then stir in a teaspoon of truffle cream. Season sauce with salt and pepper if needed. Check pasta and cook until tender or al dente – firm to the bite. Fork out the cooked pasta and transfer directly to the sauce mixture and simmer together to blend flavors. sprinkle pasta with grated pecorino cheese and stir to combine. if mixture becomes too thick, you can add more pasta water to loosen. Transfer the finished pasta to a beautiful serving platter and garnish with fresh parsley or basil and serve. Enjoy! Serves 2-3 people
