Truffle pasta may sound like a lot of work, but I promise it’s actually quite easy. And no – you don’t need a stand mixer, or a food processor, or even a pasta machine to make it!
You can use those things, of course, but not required.
The thing I love about homemade pasta is that it’s so therapeutic to make. It’s also so versatile, and you can make as much or as little as you need. The other great thing about homemade pasta dough is that you can make a big batch and freeze it until you need it.
Truffle Pasta: Ravioli Filling Ideas
I make this pasta dough quite often for clients who book my “ravioli” making night. It’s such a hit! Typically I make a mushroom ricotta filling but this would be great with may types of fillings besides mushroom.
You could have it with straight ricotta, perhaps shaving in some extra black truffle bits. You could also do a corn and cheese filling of a sort, or even egg yolks! If using egg yolks, freeze them in paper muffin cups prior to putting in the dough and then cook from frozen. Your yolk will be just barely cooked and the pasta perfectly done after about 2 minutes in boiling water.
The Key Tips
When making homemade pasta, don’t worry so much about the exact ingredients. Making pasta is a feeling just as much as it is cooking! The dough will look quite flakey at first, when you’re still mixing in all the flour, but flour is quite absorbent! You’ll find the the finished dough will be soft and pliable.
I use mostly egg yolks to get the beautiful gold color in the dough. However, it’s more than just for appearances. Egg yolks provide the protein to strengthen the dough, along with the gluten formed by the 00 Flour, to create a strong and elastic dough.
When adding any flavoring of a sort, try to make sure that it’s thin – this way it won’t break apart your dough as your rolling it out or running through a pasta machine. For the truffle pasta, I use a Microplane Grater to grate the whole black truffles into the dough. If you don’t have a grater, simply finely chop to a minced consistency.
If you want to add in a different flavoring, like spinach or sundried tomato, I recommend blending it with the egg yolks first so it’s as liquified as possible. Spinach, or any green, should be blanched first.
The Equipment?
Do you need a pasta machine? No. Do you need a ravioli press or cutters? No. Do these things make it easier to make, and the experience more fun? They can! Does it help to maintain and even thickness and give the professional look, yes. Definitely.
If you love pasta and you think that making pasta will become a frequent thing, I believe it’s definitely worth it to have. The pasta machine can be used for other sorts of things too – you can use it for sheeting croissant dough (if you’re a big baker), or take a look at these 5 other uses for a pasta machine.
AD:The pasta machine that I have is from Williams Sonoma. The Imperia Pasta Machine (affiliate link). It can be a little pricey, but I use it quite often!
The Techniques
Truffle Pasta dough has the same base as most other pasta doughs – eggs, flour, salt. I add in grated black truffle and used a few drops of high quality white truffle olive oil (just a few, that stuff can be potent!).
Olive oil helps to keep your dough from oxidizing – some recipes call for it, others don’t. I highly suggest that if you are not going to be using all of, or some of, your dough that day, add in 1 Tbsp of olive oil to help keep it’s color and texture.
PrintTruffle Pasta Dough
Truffle Pasta dough can be used for ravioli or hand cut pasta. Do whatever works for you!
- Prep Time: 20
- Inactive Time: 20-30
- Cook Time: 2
- Total Time: 40-50
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Pasta
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
2 Cups 00 Flour
4 Egg Yolks
2 Whole Eggs
1 tsp White Truffle Oil
1 Black Truffle, Grated
Instructions
1. Clean an area of your countertop for rolling out the dough on. Measure out flour and place on a clean countertop, or in a clean bowl.
2. Make a well in the middle of your flour and crack eggs into it. Add a pinch of salt and a few drops of white truffle oil. Grate the black truffle into that well as well.
3. With a fork, whisk the eggs, truffle, oil, and salt together until eggs are well combined. Then start to gradually incorporate your flour, starting from the inner part of the circle and going outward. Alternatively, you can also take a bench scraper and scrape the flour and the yolks together.
4. Once a rough ball forms, clean off your utinsel and using your hands continue to add in the flour to the dough, kneading as you go. It may look quite flakey at first. If you notice it’s becoming tough, add an extra yolk to the dough and keep kneading. Alternatively, you can add ~1 Tbsp of your extra whites if you prefer.
5. The dough should be barely sticky, and easily molded into a ball, flattened on the counter, and folded over itself. This will take about 10 minutes of kneading before it’s smooth and elastic.
6. Cover in plastic wrap and let rest for 20-30 minutes.
7. Lightly flour work surface and remove 1/2 of dough from plastic. Roll out until desired thickness using a rolling pin or pasta machine. For ravioli, I typically go to the 2nd lowest setting on the machine, for fettuccini I use the third or fourth depending on the pasta and sauce. If rolling by hand, try to get 1/8″ thick.
8. Roll out the other half and cut pasta as desired. If not using right away, freeze in small nests or as sheets layered in a small sheet tray with plastic between each layer.
9. Cook in boiling water for 90 seconds for non-filled pasta and 2 minutes for ravioli’s.
Enjoy!
Notes
This recipe can be easily halved if desired. It will make about 30 Ravioli’s (enough for 6 people).
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 5 Raviolis, 3oz Dried Pasta
- Calories: 215
- Fat: 5.7g
- Saturated Fat: 1.7g
- Fiber: 1.1g
- Cholesterol: 194mg
Keywords: Truffle, Truffle Pasta, Pasta, Ravioli, Black Truffle, White Truffle, DIY, Dinner, Special Dinner, Main Course
Tried it out as a hand made fettuccini. Turned out delicious!
★★★★★