🇮🇹 Italian · Pasta
🍝 Tajarin al Tartufo
Tajarin al Tartufo
Tajarin is Piedmont's exceptionally thin, egg-yolk-rich noodle, traditionally dressed simply with melted butter and generous shavings of white truffle, letting the richness of the pasta itself take center stage.
What sets tajarin apart from ordinary tagliolini is the sheer number of egg yolks worked into the dough — often 20 or more per kilo of flour — giving the noodle a deep golden color and a silky, almost custardy richness that needs little more than butter and truffle to shine.
Ingredients
Equipment: Pasta machine or rolling pin, Sharp knife or fluted pasta cutter, Large pot, Sauté pan
- 400 g (3 cups) 00 flour
- 8 whole eggs plus 8 additional yolks
- Pinch of salt
- 100 g (7 tbsp) unsalted butter
- Fresh white or black truffle, for shaving (to taste)
- Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, for serving
Method
- Mound the flour on a work surface, make a well, and add the whole eggs, extra yolks, and salt.
- Gradually incorporate the flour into the eggs, then knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Wrap and rest for 30 minutes.
- Roll the dough very thin with a pasta machine, then cut into extremely narrow strands, traditionally no wider than 2mm.
- Toss the fresh noodles in flour and let them rest in loose nests until ready to cook.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the tajarin for just 2–3 minutes, until tender but still with bite.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter gently in a wide pan.
- Drain the pasta, reserving a little cooking water, and toss directly in the butter with a splash of the pasta water to create a light sauce.
- Plate immediately and shave truffle generously over the top at the table, with Parmigiano alongside.
Chef Tips
- The high yolk ratio is what makes tajarin — do not be tempted to reduce it for a "lighter" dough.
- Roll the dough thin enough that light passes through it before cutting.
- If truffle is unavailable, a truffle-infused oil drizzled at the end is a reasonable, though lesser, substitute.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Overcooking the delicate fresh noodles, which need only a couple of minutes in boiling water.
- Over-saucing — tajarin should glisten with butter, not swim in it.
- Cutting the noodles too wide, losing the delicate, thread-like character that defines the dish.
Nutrition (per serving)
Health Benefits
- A good source of protein from the abundant eggs.
- An occasional, celebratory dish best enjoyed in modest portions given its richness.
Cultural Note
Tajarin is a signature dish of Piedmont's Langhe region, closely associated with the autumn white truffle season around Alba, when restaurants across the region build entire menus around it.
Storage & Serving
Storage: Fresh tajarin can be dried and stored for a day, or frozen in nests for up to 1 month.
Reheating: Best made fresh; reheating cooked tajarin dulls the delicate texture.
Serve with: Nothing more — truffle and Parmigiano are the only accompaniments needed