This fresh egg pasta dish is made with a creamy pancetta and morel mushrooms sauce and topped with fresh black truffle. Creamy sauce with morels and truffle just scream divine and decadent right! Yet, this restaurant-level sumptuous dish comes together in 30 minutes so it’s the perfect meal for that fancy weeknight dinner date!
Ingredients you will need:
Fresh egg pasta:
I am using homemade fresh egg tagliatelle pasta for this recipe. However, you can simply buy fresh pasta at your grocery store. Fresh pasta works better than hard durum wheat pasta because not only it cooks much faster, but also has a better capacity to absorb all the delicate flavors of the sauce.
Morel mushrooms:
Morels are also called morchella, a bulbous honeycomb shaped-like mushroom that is very popular in high-end cuisine. They have a deep nutty and earthy taste to them, which makes them very versatile to use. Because they are only grown during springtime in North America, from April to June, it is possible you may not find fresh morels. If you can only find dried ones, you can simply re-hydrate them by adding water and wait for a few minutes. They will plump up again.
Black truffle:
Truffles are only seasonally grown in the mountainous regions of Umbria and Tuscany. They require specialized trained dogs to hunt them because they are covered in soil and need to be digged. Their availability is what make them highly prized. In this recipe, I am using black truffle, which is the least scarced of the three types: burgundy or summer white truffle. When using truffle, you need to either grate and/or thinly slice it by using a microplane and mandolin.
Pancetta:
Pancetta is a cured and dried meat coming from the pork belly. It has a salty and nutty taste, which is a great combination to the rest of the ingredients. Using pancetta also adds another depth in your bite because its crunchiness. You can also use regular bacon in this recipe since it is a smoked (not cured) meat coming from the same part of the pig. The difference is that your dish will taste smokier.
Parmigiano Reggiano:
In my opinion, Parmigiano Reggiano is truly the best parmesan cheese out there! Its sharp and nutty taste pairs perfectly with the earthy taste of the truffle and morels. Plus, it’s naturally lactose-free!
Shallot:
Shallot has a milder taste than onions. Because this sauce has delicate flavors, using shallot will add aromas to the dish without being overpowering.
TIPS FOR MAKING CREAMY TRUFFLE AND MOREL PASTA
MAKING THE SAUCE
- In a medium-sized pot, bring salted water to a boil. Since the sauce doesn’t take time to make, it’s important that your water is ready and boiling. Meanwhile, in a skillet, add pancetta and cook until it becomes crispy. Set aside on a plate; you will add them back later.
- Add morel mushrooms and 1 tablespoon of butter. Sautée until the mushrooms become soft and brown. This step will take about 5 minutes. I do not recommend to salt at this point, only do so at the end. Salt will release moisture so your mushrooms will not brown properly. Moreover, Parmigiano Reggiano and pancetta are quite salty so if you salt at the beginning, your dish may end up too salty.
- Lower the heat. Add diced shallot and minced garlic. Sautée until the shallot becomes translucent and soft. This will take about another 5 minutes.
- Add heavy cream and the cooked pancetta that was set aside earlier. Deglaze the pan, which means to remove the camarelized bits that is stuck to the bottom of your pan with a rubber spatula. It will infuse all the flavors into the cream.
PARCOOKING AND ADDING PASTA TO THE SAUCE
- Meanwhile, add pasta to the salted boiling water. Since they are fresh pasta, it only takes two minutes to fully cook it. However, the pasta will finish cooking into the sauce so you will only need to parcook (partially cooking) the pasta for 1 minute.
- Reserve ½ cup of pasta water aside. This is considered liquid gold when cooking with pasta! The starch contained in the pasta water will help bind your sauce and pasta together. It will also help finish cooking the pasta.
- Add the parcooked pasta to the skillet. Add ¼ cup Parmigiano Reggiano and 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley.
- Mixing constantly, add pasta water 2 tablespoons at a time by making sure the sauce is emulsified before adding the next two tablespoons. You may not need to use the whole half cup and can stop adding pasta water when the pasta is cooked. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the remaining tablespoon of butter into the skillet and turn off the heat. With a microplane, grate half of the truffle and add it to the sauce.
PLATING
Pick a portion of pasta with a serving fork and twirl it into a ladle until the pasta becomes a little nest. Place it on the plate. With a mandolin, carefully thinly slice the remaining truffle and add it on the pasta plate. Garnish with remaining Parmigiano Reggiano and some chopped parsley.
If you like this creamy truffle and morel pasta recipe, you can try out my White Wine Bucatini alle Vongole or my Veal & Pork Ragù!
Equipment
- Skillet
- Microplane
- Mandolin
Ingredients
- ½ lb fresh egg pasta
- 1 oz whole black truffle
- ⅓ lb morel mushrooms
- ¼ lb pancetta diced
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 shallot diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ⅔ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese grated (¼ cup for cooking + ¼ cup for garnish)
- 2 Tbsp chopped parsley (1 Tablespoon for cooking + 1 Tablespoon for garnish)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- ¼ to ½ cup pasta water
Instructions
- In a medium-sized pot, bring salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, in a skillet, add pancetta and cook until it becomes crispy. Set aside on a plate.
- Add morel mushrooms and 1 Tbsp of butter. Sautée until the mushrooms become soft and brown. Do no not add salt at this point. About 5 minutes.
- Lower heat. Add diced shallot and minced garlic. Sautée until the shallot becomes translucent and soft. About 5 minutes.
- Add heavy cream and the cooked pancetta that was set aside earlier. Deglaze the pan.
- Meanwhile, add fresh egg pasta to the salted boiling water and cook for 1 minute. Reserve ½ cup of pasta water aside. Finish cooking the pasta by adding it to the skillet. Add ¼ cup Parmigiano Reggiano and 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley.
- Mixing constantly, add pasta water 2 tablespoons at a time by making sure the sauce is emulsified before adding the next two tablespoons. Stop adding pasta water when the pasta is cooked. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the remaining tablespoon of butter into the skillet and turn off the heat. With a microplane, grate half of the truffle and add it to the sauce.
- To plate: Pick a portion of pasta with a serving fork and twirl it into a ladle until the pasta becomes a little nest. Place it on the plate. With a mandolin, carefully thinly slice the remaining truffle and add it on the pasta plate. Garnish with remaining Parmigiano Reggiano and some chopped parsley.
