Fettuccine with Truffle Butter Sauce

   

     This is one of my favorite dishes and like so many of my favorites, it consists of only a few ingredients, is super easy and tastes like you have been slaving in the kitchen for hours.  While it is perfect for a special occasion, it is so easy to make that you may find that it becomes your "go-to" pasta dish.    I wish I could say that I developed this recipe myself but I cannot.  All the credit needs to go to Ina Garten.

     So I digress.  In a former life, I handled HR for an investment management firm.  The founder of the firm always had a yearly retreat for the staff.  While it was primarily meant to be a team building event, I have always thought that its secondary mission was just to get everyone out of the office and let loose a bit.  One evening, there had been discussion about "going into town" after dinner.  Sitting in a van, I remember listening to the founder, my boss, talk about a friend of his, Jeffrey, who was a professor (or a dean) at Yale.  My boss was extremely passionate about his work and more often than not, his conversations would lean towards investments.  He continued his story and at one point may have mentioned being at Jeffrey's house when suddenly it dawned on me.  Jeffrey is Ina's husband.  My boss knew Ina's husband!  Forget the story about investments, I wanted to know all about Ina!  It was probably a good thing that I was good at my job...and that my job centered around HR...because I quickly pointed the conversation away from Jeffrey and onto the Barefoot Contessa!

     So, the recipe...Ina makes it with a specific type of pasta which I never seem to be able to find.  So, I substitute Fettuccine.

Fettuccine with Truffle Butter
From Ina Garten



Ingredients for 2 servings

1/2 cup heavy cream
3 oz white truffle butter (I have also used black truffle butter.)
8 oz fettuccine
3 T fresh chopped chives
3 oz Parmesan

Bring a pot of water and 1T salt to a boil.

In a medium saute pan, heat the cream over medium heat until it comes to a simmer.  Add truffle butter and 1t salt and 1/2t pepper.  Heat over very low heat, swirling the butter around in the pan until it melts.  Keep warm.

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box.  Drain, keeping one cup of the pasta water.   Add the drained pasta to the truffle butter cream sauce.  As the pasta absorbs the sauce, add a bit more pasta water until the dish is very creamy.

Transfer to warmed pasta dishes and garnish with chopped chives and shavings of Parmesan.  Season with a bit of salt and pepper.

Enjoy!