Pasta with truffle butter and truffle egg yolk

My favourite way to use truffle butter is to serve it simply with pasta.

Pasta with truffle butter and truffle egg yolk Credit: Belinda So

• serves

  4

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

I like to make a thin pasta called tajarin, a regional specialty from Piedmonte, home of the Italian truffle. Tajarin is the local dialect for tagliatelle.

To magnify the earthiness of truffles, layer its flavour in this dish. Store your truffle in an airtight container with eggs in the fridge for 2-3 days. The truffle aroma will infuse the eggs through their porous shells. You can then use the eggs in the pasta dough and the truffle-infused egg yolks to finish the pasta dish.

Ingredients

• 100 g truffle cultured butter
• 4 egg yolks

Pasta dough

• 150 g (1 cup) plain flour
• semolina, for dusting
• 1 egg

Pangrattato

• 60 g coarse fresh bread crumbs
• 1 small clove garlic, finely chopped
• 15 ml extra virgin olive oil

Resting time: 30 minutes

Truffle butter making time: 20 minutes

Instructions

For pasta dough, place flour into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre, add the egg and 1/2-1 tbsp iced water. Using a fork, whisk to combine, then stir until mixture just comes together. Remove the dough and knead until smooth on a lightly floured benchtop. Flatten into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and leave to rest for 30 minutes.

Divide the pasta into 4 portions. Using a pasta machine with rollers set at the widest setting and working with one piece at a time, feed a piece of dough through the rollers. Fold the dough in half lengthways, then feed through the rollers again. Reduce the settings and continue rolling, repeating reducing settings, until the pasta is translucent and about 1 mm thick. Place on a tray and repeat with the remaining dough portions.

Trim the pasta sheets to 30-40 cm, fit your pasta machine with the fettuccine cutter and pass each sheet through. Place on a tray in a loose nest, dusting with a little extra semolina. Set aside until required. Alternatively, you can cut the pasta by hand. Roll each dusted sheet, beginning from a short end, into a loose cylinder, and using a sharp knife, cut into 2-3 mm thick strands. Toss with a little semolina to unravel the strands and place on a tray.

For the pangrattato, preheat the oven to 180ºC. Combine the ingredients and spread over an oven tray. Bake, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 10 minutes.

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil over high heat, add the pasta and cook for 1-2 minutes or until al dente.

Meanwhile, heat the butter in a large frying pan, add the pasta and toss to combine. Serve immediately topped with a truffled egg yolk and top with a sprinkle of pangrattato.

Rodney Dunn is the owner of The Agrarian Kitchen Cooking School & Farm, in Lachlan, Tasmania. This recipe is part of our story on What you can do with $15 worth of truffle. The writer travelled to The Agrarian Kitchen courtesy of AEG.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

I like to make a thin pasta called tajarin, a regional specialty from Piedmonte, home of the Italian truffle. Tajarin is the local dialect for tagliatelle.

To magnify the earthiness of truffles, layer its flavour in this dish. Store your truffle in an airtight container with eggs in the fridge for 2-3 days. The truffle aroma will infuse the eggs through their porous shells. You can then use the eggs in the pasta dough and the truffle-infused egg yolks to finish the pasta dish.