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Spoleto / Umbria · First course

Strangozzi al Tartufo Nero — Umbrian Hand-Cut Pasta with Black Truffle

Strangozzi al tartufo nero pairs rustic Umbrian hand-cut pasta with olive oil, garlic and black truffle, keeping the sauce deliberately restrained so the truffle remains dominant.

Intermediate — simple ingredients leave little margin for overcooking or overheating the truffle4 servings · 1 h 32 min total
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Strangozzi al tartufo nero: wide hero view of rustic hand-cut pasta strands lightly glossed with olive oil and finished with dark black-truffle shavings
Prep50 minutes
Cook12 minutes
Total1 h 32 min
Yield4 servings
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The dish

About Strangozzi al tartufo nero

Strangozzi are strongly associated with Spoleto and central Umbria. The pasta is rustic and eggless, made from flour and water, rolled into a sheet and cut into firm strands that sit between spaghetti and narrow tagliatelle.

Black truffle is one of Umbria’s defining ingredients, particularly around Norcia and Spoleto. Italia.it highlights strangozzi with black truffle and emphasizes adding the truffle at the end, when the heat of the pasta can release aroma without cooking it hard.

The sauce is intentionally sparse. Garlic perfumes extra-virgin olive oil at low heat and is removed before it colors; a little pasta water then forms a light emulsion. The truffle is grated into the warm oil or directly over the pasta off hard heat.

The finished bowl should look glossy rather than oily. Freshly shaved truffle gives the strongest aroma, while the rough hand-cut surface of strangozzi catches the truffle-flecked emulsion.

Bigoli absorb sauce during the final toss. Reserved cooking water is added gradually, not all at once, until the onion and olive oil form a glossy coating around every strand. The pan should finish almost dry beneath the pasta, without a separate oily puddle.

Technique

Three things that matter

  • Keep the dough eggless. Flour and water give strangozzi their characteristic rustic bite.
  • Do not brown the garlic. The oil should be perfumed, not bitter or toasted.
  • Add truffle off hard heat. Black truffle loses its finest aroma when fried aggressively.
Cook the dish

Ingredients

Everything needed to prepare the dish, arranged for fast scanning before cooking.

Ingredients

Strangozzi dough

  • 250 gItalian 00 flour
  • 125 gfine durum semolinaplus extra for dusting
  • 190 mlcool wateradded gradually
  • 10 mlextra-virgin olive oilfor the dough

Black truffle finish

  • 45 gfresh black trufflecleaned; about two-thirds finely grated and the rest shaved
  • 70 mlextra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 clovesgarliclightly crushed
  • 5 gfine sea saltfor pasta water, used cautiously
  • 1 gblack pepperoptional and very light
Step by step

Method

Make the strangozzi

  1. Mix the eggless dough. Combine 00 flour and semolina. Add the water gradually with 10 ml olive oil and knead 8–10 minutes until smooth and firm.

    The dough should be pliable without sticking to the board.

  2. Rest the dough. Cover tightly and rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.

    The dough should roll without shrinking back strongly.

  3. Roll and cut. Roll to about 2 mm thick, dust lightly with semolina, fold loosely and cut into 3–5 mm strands. Shake them open and keep in loose nests.

    The strands should be rustic and slightly irregular but clearly separate.

Cook and finish

  1. Perfume the oil gently. Warm 70 ml olive oil and garlic over low heat for 3–4 minutes without browning. Remove the garlic.

    The oil should smell of garlic but remain green-gold, not toasted.

  2. Boil the pasta. Cook the fresh strangozzi in gently boiling salted water for about 3–4 minutes, until cooked through but firm. Reserve 120 ml pasta water.

    The strand should have no raw flour core but still resist slightly when bitten.

  3. Emulsify and add truffle. Add 60 ml pasta water to the warm oil and swirl. Toss in the drained pasta for 30 seconds, remove from hard heat, then fold in the finely grated truffle.

    The pasta should look glossy and lightly flecked with truffle, not greasy.

  4. Finish with fresh shavings. Plate immediately and shave the remaining truffle over each portion. Add pepper only if desired.

    Truffle aroma should be the first impression at the table.
Practical guidance

Practical guidance

Truffle handling

Clean fresh truffle with a soft brush and as little water as possible. Shave or grate only shortly before serving.

Pasta width

Hand-cut strangozzi are not meant to be machine-perfect; consistency within each batch matters more than exact uniformity.

No cheese needed

Parmigiano is not necessary here and can mute the clear truffle profile; the sauce is built from oil, pasta water and truffle.

Make-ahead

The dough can be rested earlier, but cut pasta is best cooked the same day and kept lightly dusted rather than refrigerated in a damp pile.

Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

  • The strands stick together. They were too wet or stacked tightly. Dust lightly with semolina and keep in loose nests.
  • The sauce is greasy. There was too little pasta water. Add a splash and toss vigorously to form an emulsion.
  • The garlic tastes bitter. It browned. Start again over lower heat and remove it while still pale.
  • The truffle aroma is weak. The truffle was overheated or shaved too early. Fold it in off hard heat and add fresh shavings at service.
Nutrition per serving

Nutrition per serving

  • Serving size: 1 pasta course
  • Calories: approximately 560 kcal
  • Carbohydrates: 78 g
  • Protein: 15 g
  • Fat: 21 g
  • Fibre: 4 g
  • Sodium: approximately 420 mg

Truffle is low in calories; most variation comes from how much olive oil remains on each serving.

Allergens and food safety

Allergens and food safety

Contains wheat/gluten.

Brush soil from fresh truffle carefully, refrigerate it and use promptly.

Fresh pasta should be cooked or refrigerated promptly; cool leftovers within 2 hours.

FAQ

FAQ

Do strangozzi contain eggs?

Traditional Umbrian strangozzi are commonly made from flour and water, which gives them a firm rustic texture.

Can jarred truffle sauce replace fresh truffle?

It changes the dish substantially. Fresh black truffle gives the cleanest aroma and allows the simple pasta and olive oil to remain identifiable.

Why is the truffle added at the end?

Hard heat drives off volatile aromas. The warmth of the pasta is enough to release fragrance without frying the truffle.

Final note

What matters most

  • Result: Firm hand-cut Umbrian pasta coated in a light garlic-oil emulsion and intensely perfumed with fresh black truffle.
  • Key: Keep the sauce minimal, emulsify with pasta water and protect the truffle from hard heat.
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