For us it makes sense that the most magical time of the year is also when Italian truffles are at their best. Summer truffles are super tasty, but there is something extra special about the flavor of truffles that are in season in late fall and winter. Whether you prefer black truffles or white truffles, fresh truffles or truffle oil, here are our tips and suggestions for making the most of truffles during the holiday season:
Italian Truffle Recipes for Breakfast or Brunch
Who says you have to save your precious truffles for an evening meal? Part of the fun of the holidays for us is being able to take time to treat ourselves and our loved ones, slowing down and making time for things we wouldn’t do everyday.
Breakfast (or brunch if we’ve had a late night!) is an essential part of the holiday season. No need for a hurried espresso as we run out the door, instead we like to create something more extravagant to start our day.
Fresh truffles are the perfect way to do this. We love adding a heap of truffle shavings to scrambled eggs on sourdough toast; the pungent truffle contrasts perfectly with the creamy, rich eggs. An omelette is also an excellent option if you’re not a fan of scrambled eggs, just remember not to add lots of other ingredients that will hide the truffle flavor. If you have some truffle cheese however, this is a decadent addition! Both black and white truffles work with eggs too.
For the days after Christmas when the refrigerator is filled with leftover meats, cheeses, sauces and vegetables, our go-to brunch is a grilled sandwich layered with all these leftovers. It is a scientific fact that food tastes better if it is left for a little while before eating because all the flavors meld together, and when you add truffle into the mix, leftover get even more tasty! Once you have created your sandwich, add some truffle pate or truffle oil (only those made with real truffle) to the bread before grilling, or top the fillings with grated truffle.
Main Dishes Using Truffles During the Holiday Season
When it comes to the main meal of the day, there are lots of ways you can incorporate truffles into your holiday celebrations.
Primi
If you’re giving your meal an Italian feel, you can make one of the classic primi that uses either black truffles or white truffles (mixing the two is not recommended). Risotto is one of the best dishes to really showcase truffles, using a base of butter or olive oil with mushrooms for extra depth, plenty of black pepper and topped with shavings of fresh truffles.
However, making risotto for a large group of people is time-consuming, so we prefer to focus on gnocchi or pasta dishes instead for the holidays. The cooking process for these is much quicker and still results in a super tasty finished dish. Try a classic Roman cacio e pepe topped with black truffles, or fry your gnocchi pieces in butter before adding parmesan cheese to create a sauce and then plenty of truffles.
Secondi
Truffles also add a lot to secondi, particularly beef dishes. We’ve made truffle sauce to go with roast beef, but for a true showstopper you can add truffle to the filling of a beef wellington too. The more garlicky taste of white truffles works well with chicken as a finishing touch – remember that delicate white truffle does not hold up to cooking so should be added at the final moment.
Vegetarians don’t need to miss out, one of the best dishes we’ve made for Christmas was a truffle cauliflower cheese. Florets of cauliflower are roasted until nutty, before a thick, rich bechamel cheese sauce is added on top and baked. Adding real truffle oil to the cauliflower, as well as using a truffle cheese in the sauce and serving with truffle shavings on top made this an incredible addition to our holiday table!
Sides and Appetizers
If adding a lot of truffle to your main dishes is too intense, you can instead choose to focus on the appetizers and side dishes.
Deviled eggs are a holiday classic for good reason, but adding black truffles takes them to another level. Add a little truffle to the yolks when creating the filling, and top the final eggs with small shavings of fresh truffles for the perfect flavor combination.
Crostini also works very well with the addition of truffles. Toast slices of good-quality white bread and then add whatever toppings you like. Smoked salmon with a little cream cheese topped with a little white truffle is excellent, or you can keep it simple with truffle butter or pate. Ricotta is a great topping for crostini; you can keep it savory with the ricotta, some pan-fried herby mushrooms and truffle, or instead top the ricotta with a little truffle honey and chopped hazelnuts or pistachios.
Finally, for us the one non-negotiable truffle dish at the holidays has to be truffle mashed potatoes. The silky smooth potatoes laced with butter combined with the punchy flavor of black truffles is heavenly, and goes so well with so many holiday dishes.
Pairing Italian Truffles With Wine
When it comes to choosing the wines to go with your truffles during the holiday season, think about the dishes as a whole rather than focusing solely on the truffles.
If you are serving a rich joint of beef with a black truffle sauce, then reaching for a full-bodied red wine makes sense. A Brunello di Montalcino or Barolo, produced in the Tuscany and Piedmont regions respectively that are famous for truffles too, are both good suggestions.
However, if you are enjoying scrambled eggs and black truffles, red wine is not going to work. To pair with the creaminess of the eggs, a sparkling wine like Franciacorta is a much better option.
For a risotto or pastas, generally we would suggest a white wine with freshness, a little acidity and minerality. This also applies to dishes with white truffles generally, as they are more delicate than black truffles and would be overpowered by most red wines.
Truffle Gifts
As well as featuring truffles during the holiday season on your table, they make perfect gifts. If you’re looking for some inspiration for the truffle-lovers in your life, here are some of our top picks:
Truffle slicers – these are the ideal piece of kitchen equipment if you want to create the perfect thin shavings of truffle. You can opt for a simple truffle slicer or a more substantial one that has both a grater and slicer for however you’re serving your truffles.
Truffle oil – some truffle oils are just basic olive oil with truffle flavoring, but you can find some which contain actual truffles. Whether you opt for a black truffle oil or a white truffle oil, make sure to get a smaller bottle to ensure you use it up before it loses the pungency of fresh truffles.
Truffle products – as with truffle oil, when purchasing truffle products look for the use of real truffles. A good quality truffle pate is an excellent gift, as is a fragrant truffle honey. If you can find truffle cheeses though, flecked with real pieces of the tasty tuber, these are ideal truffle gifts!
Whole truffles – depending on where you are and the season, you may be able to find fresh truffle locally. However, most people will need to purchase preserved truffles and there are two main types. The first is slices of truffle preserved in olive oil and the other is whole truffles preserved using a brine. The slices tend to hold up better, and you can use the oil too, but the whole truffles can also be a great option.
Give the Gift of Casa Mia Tours
If you prefer to give experiences rather than items, did you know you can gift someone a Casa Mia tour? For true truffle aficionados, there is nothing better than getting out into the Italian countryside and learning about where truffles come from. Join a local truffle hunter (and their adorable dogs!) in Piemonte and get to the roots of the ancient traditions that are still followed today. If you’d like to know more or want to arrange this unforgettable experience,get in touch with us today.
