Truffle Oil Pasta

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• 1 cube clarified butter (melted and the solids removed)
• 5 shallots, coarsely chopped
• 1 black truffle
• 3 tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 14 oz of chicken broth (canned is ok)
• half cup cream
• 3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp. black truffle oil

Combine the butter and shallots in a large skillet and sauté over high heat until shallots are well browned. Don't burn them! But the browner the better.

Add:

• truffle
• red wine vinegar
• half of canned chix broth

Put in a blender and whirl until smooth.

Pour the mixture back into the skillet and simmer until reduced by half. At this point you can cool the sauce and keep it for several hours in the cooler.

Add the rest of the chix broth, the cream and simmer until reduced by half again.

Remove from heat and add the balsamic vinegar and truffle oil.

Serve over fresh pasta.

12/31/2007 Update: Made it again for New Year's Eve and it was a hit with everyone. This year black truffles were incredibly expensive, so I used a black truffle pate from Whole Foods - I should have used more of it. Our crowd contained some vegetarians so I used vegetable broth and the finished product lacked some of the richness.

I also sent Umberto's an email of thanks:

Hi,

Years ago I was a skier. Perhaps it was ten years ago that I was in Whistler with a ski club from Silicon Valley. We ate a most remarkable dinner at Umberto's. At our table of 15, one woman had pasta with a black truffle sauce. She found the sauce so incredible that she asked for just a little bit more; our waiter returned with a gravy boat full.

She poured it liberally on her pasta and vegetables. Then someone else tried a taste and flooded their own plate in response. An excitement shook that table as everyone poured this sauce over everything they had left to eat. Pure beauty.

We were too loud and eventually the chef came to our table. We peppered him with questions until he relented and told us how to make the sauce.

I've kept that recipe ever since. I've probably made the sauce ten times now. Each time my guests are amazed at the perfect combination of flavors. Last night I had 10 people over for New Year's Eve dinner. The main course was pasta with Umberto's black truffle sauce. Again, everyone raved about the dish.

I just wanted to say, "thank you" for providing me so many years of outstanding entertainment. One day I'll return to Whistler. My great dilemma will be whether to sate my palate with your perfect truffle sauce, looking for one more secret to the preparation, or should I dine on something else, hoping to find another recipe to steal? I look forward to figuring this out.

Best Regards in the new year,

Jim

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