This Black Truffle Pasta recipe is gourmet comfort food at its finest. Featuring a creamy carbonara-like sauce flavored with black truffle butter, golden-brown sautéed mushrooms, and ofcourse shavings of fresh truffle (which is optional but so very fancy).

brown plates topped with creamy pasta with mushrooms and truffle shavings

Ingredients in Truffle Pasta

  • Parmesan cheese: make sure you use high-quality grated Parmesan.
  • Large eggs
  • Extra-virgin olive oil
  • Shiitake mushrooms (or a mix of mushrooms)
  • Spaghetti, bucatini, or tagliatelle 
  • Truffle butter (homemade or purchased)
  • Fresh black or white truffle  
brown plates topped with creamy pasta with mushrooms and truffle shavings

How to make truffle pasta

The process for making this truffle pasta is very similar to the process of making carbonara (no truffle cream sauce here)

This recipe is all about process. It’s a simple process (takes just about 30 minutes), but it’s important to follow top to bottom, switching up the steps won’t work for this pasta dish!

  1. Combine the cheese, yolks, eggs, and pepper; set aside.
  2. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Spaghetti on standby.
  3. Meanwhile, cook the mushrooms until golden brown. Transfer mushrooms to a plate and reserve for later.
  4. Cook spaghetti 2 minutes less than package directions specify.
  5. Reserve 1¾ cups pasta cooking water. Do not forget this step! I repeat, reserve pasta cooking water. Drain the pasta.
  6. Add 1 cup of the reserved cooking water and the truffle butter to now empty pot (which the mushrooms were cooked in). Add the pasta and cook until al dente and liquid has reduced by half. 
  7. Whisk ¼ cup of the reserved pasta water into the cheese and egg mixture, then add the mixture to Combine the grated Parmesan, egg yolks, eggs, and pepper; set aside.
  8. Bring a pot of water to a boil with spaghetti on standby.
  9. While the water comes to a boil, cook the mushrooms until golden brown. Transfer the mushrooms to a plate and reserve for later.
  10. Cook the spaghetti 2 minutes less than package directions specify.
  11. Reserve 1¾ cups pasta cooking water. Do not forget this step! I repeat, reserve pasta cooking water. Drain the pasta.
  12. Add the truffle butter and 1 cup of the reserved cooking water to now empty pot (which the mushrooms were cooked in). Add the pasta and cook until al dente and liquid has reduced by half. 
  13. Whisk ¼ cup of the reserved pasta water into the cheese and egg mixture, then add the mixture to the pan with the pasta and cook, tossing the pasta and sauce gently but continuously until sauce is thickened and silky. 
  14. Add additional reserved pasta water by 1–2 tablespoon increments until the sauce is similar in thickness to heavy cream. You may add quite a bit of the reserved cooking water and that’s OK!
  15. Stir in the mushrooms and serve with sliced/shaved truffles. 
overhead of ingredients arranged on a gray background including truffle butter, pasta, eggs, mushrooms, parmesan

Variations on this recipe:

  • Use a mixture of wild mushrooms.
  • Add crispy pancetta.
  • Use truffle oil instead of truffle butter.
  • Serve seared scallops over top.
  • Use white pepper instead of black pepper for a more “perfumy” flavor.

What to serve with this pasta: 

Black Truffle Pasta with Shiitake Mushrooms

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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Yield 4 servings
Category Main Dish
Cuisine American/Italian/French
Author Lauren Grant

Description

A carbonara-like pasta flavored with black truffle butter, Parmesan, and sauteéd mushrooms. It's simple yet spectacularly creamy and comforting. Serve with fresh shavings of black truffle or add an extra slice of black truffle butter to finish. 

Ingredients

  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 ounces grated Parmesan + more for serving ½ cup
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 8 ounces shiitake mushrooms trimmed and sliced into ¼ inch-thick slices
  • Kosher salt
  • 1 pound dry bucatini spaghetti, or tagliatelle
  • 2 tablespoons truffle butter homemade or purchased
  • 1 truffle black or white, shaved or thinly sliced

Instructions

  • Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
  • Whisk egg yolks and eggs in a medium bowl until no streaks remain, whisk in Parmesan; season with pepper.
  • Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium-high. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer mushrooms to a plate. 
  • Season boiling water with 2 tablespoons kosher salt, add pasta and cook 2 minutes less than package instructions, stirring occasionally. Measure out 1 ¾ cups pasta cooking water. Add 1 cup cooking water and truffle butter to Dutch oven; bring mixture to a boil over medium-high. Drain pasta then transfer to Dutch oven.
    butter and pasta water in a Dutch oven
  • Cook pasta, stirring and gently tossing constantly with tongs, until al dente and water is reduced by about half; about 2 minutes. Remove pot from heat.
  • Whisk ¼ cup reserved pasta cooking water into egg mixture. Slowly stream egg mixture into pasta, stirring and gently tossing constantly with tongs, until cheese is melted and egg is thickened to form a glossy sauce on the pasta.
    cooked spaghetti getting tossed with tongs in a dutch oven
  • Thin sauce with remaining ½ cup reserved pasta cooking water, adding a 1–2 tablespoons at a time, until consistency of heavy cream is reached. Season to taste with additional truffle butter and salt.
    cooked spaghetti in a dutch oven
  • Mix in mushrooms and divide pasta among serving bowls. Top with thin shavings of truffle, ground pepper and additional parmesan.

Equipment

Notes

This pasta is best served immediately. 
Reheat leftovers on the stovetop over medium heat. Add water or cream (or reserved pasta cooking water if you have it!) to loosen as needed.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/4 of the recipeCalories: 581kcalCarbohydrates: 65gProtein: 25gFat: 25gSaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 400mgSodium: 244mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1g
Like this? Leave a comment below!I love hearing from you and I want to hear how it went with this recipe! Leave a comment and rating below, then share on social media @zestfulkitchen and #zestfulkitchen!
brown plates topped with creamy pasta with mushrooms and truffle shavings

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This recipe was originally published on December 23, 2020. It was most recently updated on February 11, 2022.

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About The Author

Lauren Grant is a professional culinary food scientist, food writer, recipe developer, and food photographer. Lauren is a previous magazine editor and test kitchen developer and has had work published in major national publications including Diabetic Living Magazine, Midwest Living Magazine, Cuisine at Home Magazine, EatingWell.com, AmericasTestKitchen.com, and more.

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