The Pasta Queen Says You Are Cooking Truffles All Wrong. Here's How To Do It Correctly

Nadia Caterina Munno, aka The Pasta Queen, is broadening her foodie influencer empire with a new culinary travel series on Amazon Prime, which is aptly titled "The Pasta Queen." Munno, who hails from the Macaronis pasta dynasty, was born into a Southern Italian family known for making pasta and wine for over five generations. This donna has pasta in her DNA.

In her new show aimed at teaching viewers how to cook like a real Italian, Munno reveals one of the biggest mistakes people make when cooking truffles. Munno says that you never want to cook the truffles you're working with but instead use the heat from the sauce and pasta water to infuse your dish with the gorgeous earthy flavor. All you need to do is shave about a ½ ounce of a truffle, into your sauce and let it sit at a low to medium temperature, never with the flame on. In the episode where Munno makes her truffle pasta dish, she reaches for summer truffles, which have a higher heat resistance, are larger and milder than winter truffles, and are more affordable because of their abundance.

Although there are many ways to incorporate truffles into your cooking, using pasta as a base is probably the most popular. That's because truffles offer uniquely musky aromatic notes, which are best when paired with a simple dish. Like a true Italian chef, Munno lets the simplicity of excellent ingredients shine in her tagliolini with truffle dish.

Munno calls her dish a "five-minute truffle delight," and it holds up to the name. All that's needed for the sauce is one stick of unsalted butter, melted over a medium flame to avoid browning. Once the butter is fully melted and off the flame, you can add your ½ ounce of shaved truffle. And that's it. You add your perfectly cooked pasta and about ⅓ cup of parmesan cheese, a ladle of the leftover pasta water, and you're ready to plate and impress. If there's no such thing as too much truffle in your book, Munno recommends you shave a few truffle slices on top of your plated dish to add extra umami flavor and texture.