Northwest Wine - Online Magazine
Truffles in Cream Sauce
This white cream sauce is the yin to the wine based truffle sauce yang. Designed for pasta and risotto, this truffle sauce also works quite well ladled over seafood or vegetables. One of the most sublime first course dishes is a simple fettuccini with a black truffle cream sauce with shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and slivers of truffles over the top.
What You Do
1. Cut peeled truffles into thin (but not paper thin) slices. Season them with salt and pepper, and cook them very gently in two tablespoons of butter and a few drops of brandy.
2. Melt rest of butter (2 Tbs.) in bottom of heavy sauce pan. Add the flour and stir until mixture is well blended.
3. Into the flour mixture, pour the cream. Heat and simmer cream until sauce is reduced by 1/2, about 10 minutes. Don't forget to stir.
4. When reduced, add white pepper. Stir in truffles you just sautéed. Cool to room temperature. Set aside if using soon (let steep for at least 30 minutes for flavor to develop), refrigerate if holding for longer.
Notes: Adding a few tablespoons of white wine to the mix is just fine. A lot of recipes use a cup of wine or a cup of chicken-broth to this recipe; it just takes longer to reduce. In all cases, reduce the liquid by half. Add truffles at the end of the process. They don't benefit from long cooking times unless they are the European black variety, those can handle the heat a little better. Some diced onions don't harm this recipe either. The dab of brandy comes from the habit of storing truffles in brandy, for use later.
Wine Pairings
Depending on recipe, Pinot noir for medium weight dishes, Chardonnay for lighter dishes, possibly Cabernet Sauvignon blend for heavy meat dishes, although heavy meats can overpower the truffle flavors.
Ingredient List
Here's what you need:
1 tablespoon bits from a fresh truffle, black or white
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
Salt to taste
A dab of brandy
White pepper
(optional) 1 Tablespoon finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
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