RECIPES WITH TRUFFLE

Truffle

The truffle has always been used to perfume and enrich the taste of meat, pasta and even fish dishes of the Italian cuisine.

 RECIPES WITH TRUFFLE

Some tips for using this precious product in the kitchen from appetizers to side dishes.

Given the cost, the truffle is an ingredient that gives “nobility” to every dish and makes it suitable even for important occasions. The white truffle is undoubtedly a delicacy, unfortunately for the price that limits its use. Precisely for this reason it is important to know how to choose …

The two most important requirements in his choice of truffle are:

– SMELL: truffle needs to be scented, truffle is scent!!

– CONSISTENCY: it needs to be solid and not rubbery.

The moment of truth, however, occurs at the time of cutting.

To preserve all the qualities of the white truffle, we recommend to leave it in the open to allow the soil, which remains in its porosity, to dry as to be easier to rub with a small brush.

Less noble, but definitely more accessible is the Black Truffle, which we often use to enrich our recipes, this type is also the most used for the preparation of “Creams with truffles”.

CONSERVATION

The truffle is a type of mushroom, which must however be consumed within a week from the harvesting.

If you have more truffles to keep in the fridge, wash them, dry them and wrap them one by one in tears of kitchen paper that that needs to be replaced as soon as they become wet. Then put them in a tin-tight tin otherwise the strong smell will spread to all the food contained in the fridge and all will taste and smell of truffle.

However, if you intend to keep them for a long time you can freeze them whole after washing them with a brush to remove the residues of soil that remain in the porosity of the peridium (rind) and put them in the freezer after wrapping them in tinfoil.

Truffles can be frozen whole in a vacuum-packed or ground in the form of a sauce with oil, salt and garlic and store it in jars or bowls to be closed after freezing to prevent breakage. You can also preserve them in the form of sauce after boiling them, but they lose their flavour and aroma.

In the case of freezing, they should be grated without being defrosted to prevent them from becoming rubbery.

Another effective system is to melt the butter and mix it with the grated truffle in a jar to be stored in the freezer; just extract it with a teaspoon and spread it on the canapes or pour it on the hot pasta. This system is also suitable for white truffles.

A very old custom is to place the truffles immersed in rice in an airtight jar, after having washed them under the water jet, rubbing them with a brush, and having dried them; they are preserved for a long time and the rice will be used for an excellent truffle risotto.

Truffles can also be dried after having cut them into very thin slices, vacuum-packed or in airtight jars, which will then be used after treating them with hot water or steam.

SAFFRON UTILISATION

Saffron

Saffron is used from appetizers to desserts, but you have the best combinations with risotto, crustaceans, seafood, stewed meat and delicate creams.

Usually this spice is added at the end of cooking, in order to prevents loss of flavor and taste. Before adding it to the dish it is necessary to dilute it in a cup with lukewarm water for a period of time ranging from 2 to 24 hours. Attention must also be paid to the dosage: two pistils per person.

In other cases, such as stewing, it can be added from the start of cooking, but it must first be diluted in water.

Saffron in natural cosmetics

Saffron is used in natural cosmetics because it has antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties. Saffron helps to reduce the hyper-pigmentation of the face and to tone the skin.

It is possible to prepare this recipe at home: mix a pinch of saffron with lemon or cucumber juice and spread it all over your face. Leave for a few minutes and rinse. To obtain a visible and lasting effect, it is advisable to repeat the operation several times.

Saffron also helps to reduce gum infections.

If you feel tired, a teaspoon of saffron, mixed with honey, taken daily, can help to counteract the feeling of weakness.

The skin treatment with saffron will give the skin a yellow complexion, you have to let the night pass, and the following morning rinse your face and body with water and a mild detergent.

APPETIZERS

– RAW MEAT AT THE ALBESE (doses for 4 people)
INGREDIENTS: doses for 4 people: 350 gr. of thin beef thigh, 80 gr. white truffle, juice of a lemon, a clove of garlic, 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper q.b.
HOW TO PREPARE: chop the meat several times until it becomes very thin, then season it with finely chopped garlic, salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice. Mix well and arrange on a serving plate. Sprinkle with white truffle flakes and bring to the table.

– CROSTINO WITH FRIED ROASTED EGG AND TRUFFLE (doses for 4 people)
INGREDIENTS: 4 slices of homemade bread, 4 eggs, 4 teaspoons of butter with truffle, salt and olive oil q.b
HOW TO PREPARE: in a nonstick pan heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 4 teaspoons of Bouquet, when it will be hot fry the eggs without breaking the yolks. Add salt. Toast the slices of bread in the oven, arrange the eggs and serve hot.

– VOL AU VENT WITH BLACK TRUFFLE (doses for 4 people)
INGREDIENTS: 12 Vol au vent, a black truffle, 100 gr. Fontina cheese, 100 gr. milk, 80 gr. veal liver, 120 gr. of offal, brandy, butter, flour, salt and pepper q.b.
HOW TO PREPARE: place the vol au vent in the oven at 180 ° for about 15 minutes. Prepare a sauté with the liver and offal along with a tablespoon of butter and a dash of brandy. Add salt and pepper and, after mixing everything, complete with chopped black truffle. Stir a tablespoon of flour into cold milk, add the diced fontina cheese and let it melt over a moderate heat. Stuff the vol au vent with the liver cream and the fontina cream.

FIRST DISHES

– TAJARIN DELLE LANGHE
HOW TO PREPARE: roll the dough by mixing the number of eggs corresponding to the pounds of flour added, along with a few tablespoons of hot water or white wine.
Cut the pastry into thin strips.
Two hours before, prepare the “bedside table” as follows: poultry and rabbit livers, crests, kidneys, hearts, and eggs cut into small pieces. Or minced raw meat or scraps of roasted meat. Add oil, butter and lard with celery, carrots, onions, garlic, parsley, sage and rosemary, which, when lightly browned and dried must be drunk several times with red wine. Subsequently dried mushrooms are soaked in water and marsala and minced with sausage. Mix everything with 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce and an addition of red wine. Finally grate some slices of white truffle.

 – TAGLIATELLE WITH TRUFFLE
INGREDIENTS: 250g. tagliatelle pasta, 30g. slices of white truffle, garlic, rosemary, sage, butter, and cheese q.b
HOW TO PREPARE: boil the tagliatelle in boiling salted water, drain and season with melted and hot butter, finely chopped or crushed garlic, rosemary and sage. Finally crumble over the toma cheese and season with white truffle slices.

– TAGLIOLINI WITH EGG WITH RAGU ‘DI TRUFFLE
INGREDIENTS: 80g. butter, 50g. black winter truffle, 250g. egg noodles, half a glass of aromatic dry white wine, a tablespoon of roasted sauce, salt q.b.
HOW TO PREPARE: slice the truffles and mix them with the butter. Let them heat in a bain-marie until the butter has melted, then add the wine and the roast sauce and let it thicken. Cook the tagliolini in two liters of boiling water for about three minutes, drain and sauté in a pan with the sauce previously obtained. Serve hot.

SECOND COURSES

 – TRUFFLE NOBLE OMELETTE (for 6 people)
INGREDIENTS: 6 eggs, 1/2 kg. asparagus, 3 artichokes, 40 gr. butter, 50 gr. truffle, 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, salt and freshly ground black pepper.
HOW TO PREPARE: clean and cook the asparagus and artichokes for a few minutes in boiling salted water. Cut the green part of the asparagus into small pieces and the tender part of the artichokes into slices. Cook in butter until they become crispy.
Put the beaten eggs, the two vegetables, the parsley in a bowl and grate the truffle into slices. Add salt and fresh pepper. Pour the contents of the bowl into a pan with the sparkling butter.
On low heat cook the omelette but not too much so that the inside remains moist and almost creamy.

– EGGS WITH TRUFFLE
INGREDIENTS: a large chunk of butter, 5 eggs, 1 white truffle, parmesan, pepper and salt.
HOW TO PREPARE: place the butter in a pan and fry it. Remove the pan from the heat and break the eggs, add salt and sprinkle with a thin layer of white truffle over the flakes of Parmesan. Add some fresh black pepper and bake at a high temperature to make the eggs join the Parmesan.

– RABBIT (doses for 4 people)
INGREDIENTS: a rabbit cut into pieces, white truffle, rosemary, laurel, thyme, oregano, mint, three peppers, half a glass of white wine, vegetable broth, salt and pepper q.b.
HOW TO PREPARE: Cook the rabbit meat for five minutes in a little water, drain and dry it with a napkin; arrange the meat prepared in a baking dish that you will have coated with baking paper along with the aromas; peel the peppers of the seeds, cut them into thin strips and place them over the rabbit, add the white wine, salt and pepper; cook in oven at 200 degrees for half an hour (the last ten minutes at the grill), occasionally moistening with the vegetable stock. Before serving, sprinkle the meat with a thin layer of truffle.

SIDE DISH

– ASPARAGUS TO THE ALBESE (doses for 4 people)
INGREDIENTS: a bunch of asparagus, 100 gr Fontina cheese, a chunk of butter, white truffle from Alba, salt and pepper, q.b.
HOW TO PREPARE: Take the asparagus of the non-edible part and let them boil, once cooked arrange them on a serving dish, add butter and the fontina into very small pieces and place in the oven at 160 ° the time necessary for the fontina cheese to melt. Bake the asparagus and sprinkle over it a generous rain of slices of white truffle.

– ASPARAGUS WITH TRUFFLE (doses for 4 people)
INGREDIENTS: 800 gr. asparagus, 1 medium truffle, 6 anchovy fillets, mayonnaise and salt q.b.
HOW TO PREPARE: remove  the hardest part of the asparagus that you have washed and put them to boil for about 20 minutes in a tall enough container. Drain and place them with the tips towards the center on a serving plate. Add the anchovies in small pieces, salt, sprinkle with the truffle cut into slices and decorated with mayonnaise.