Gin & Yang

In honour of moving into my new home, I decided to cook a special first meal.  Actually I found some black truffle sitting in the pantry during the move and realised I had to use them, so what better way to celebrate than chopping it up into some pasta and enjoying it with a glass of prosecco?

Lavender might seem like an odd ingredient but it really adds to the recipe.  I have a supply of it because years ago in an old house there was a lavender plant that was growing out of control, trimmed it and for some odd reason decided to dry out the cuttings… A good quantity was used in a lavender cake, that turned out really well but there was enough lavender to make about 20 cakes and as much as I liked the lavender cake, 20 of them was more than enough to last me a life time.  So the excess dried lavender has been sitting in an air tight container for a year or two until I recently stumbled upon a recipe involving black truffle and lavender.  So I thought I would put the combination to the test and as it turns out it is a really good one!  The trick is not to put too much lavender in, it’s quite strong in flavour and you don’t want everything to taste like a bouquet of flowers, so a little goes a long way and you want it to be a subtle flavour.  I would encourage you to go hunt some down, grow a lavender plant in your garden or get some from a friend, alternatively you might be able to buy it in some health food shop but as lavender grows like a weed in the UK it seems like a bit of a waste to have to buy it.

Ingredients (serves 2):

1 Large Black Truffle

1/2 tsp Lavender

30g Dried Porcini Mushrooms

300g Fettuccine or Tagliatelle

300ml Double Cream

100ml White Wine (dry)

25g Unsalted Butter

1 clove garlic (minced)

Watercress and/or Rocket as a side salad

Pecorino (for garnish)

Method:

1. Cut the tuffle into 3 equal parts, take 1 part and mince it, then mix it into the cream and leave in the fridge over night.
2. Hydrate the porcini mushrooms according to packet instructions, reserving the water for later.  Chop the porcini mushrooms into equal sizes.
3. In a large saucepan or saute pan, melt the butter then add the minced garlic and fry until slightly golden, then add in the porcini mushrooms.
4. Add the white wine and mushroom water then reduce by half, finally add in the truffle cream from the fridge and allow it to simmer and thicken.
5. While the sauce is thickening, cook the pasta until it is al dente then drain and add to the sauce.
6. Add the lavender with salt and pepper to taste and mix well.
7. Remove the pan from the heat and then add in slices of the remaining black truffle
8. Dish out the pasta with your side salad and then dust with grated Pecorino
9. Serve with a nice glass of prosecco!

Tips:

• The sauce only needs a gentle heat to bring to a simmer, don’t let the cream boil.