Pasta with White Truffles, Olive Oil, Parmesan, & Basil

Pasta with white truffles is the kind of dish where restraint is the entire point. With ingredients this expensive and aromatic, anything more than olive oil, basil, and Parmesan would muscle the truffle out of the spotlight. The dark green, peppery extra-virgin oil acts as the carrier, soaking into hot angel hair and turning the noodles into a perfumed nest for the truffle to settle on.

White truffle is added raw, shaved over each plate at the very last second. Heat destroys the volatile compounds that make Alba truffle smell like the most extraordinary forest floor on earth, so cooking it would waste the most expensive ingredient in your kitchen. Plates must be hot. The residual heat releases just enough aroma to wake up the truffle without cooking it.

Chef Tips

• Heat the serving plates in a low oven for 10 minutes before plating. Cold plates kill the truffle aroma instantly.
• Use the very best dark green Tuscan or Ligurian extra-virgin olive oil you can afford. With this few ingredients, the oil quality is half the dish.
• Cook angel hair only until just shy of al dente. It carries on cooking from residual heat as you toss with the oil.
• Shave the truffle as thin as possible. Thin slices release more aroma per gram than chunks.

Variations

• Swap white truffle for a generous drizzle of high-quality white truffle oil if fresh isn’t available, though the experience is more muted.
• Use fresh black truffle instead, but warm it briefly in the oil first since black truffles benefit from gentle heat.
• Add a soft-poached egg yolk to the center of each mound of pasta for an even richer, more decadent finish.