A classic Black truffle risotto is one of the best ways to enjoy fresh white or black truffles. Nothing more than a simple white risotto with cheese and butter with a pile of truffles on top, it's also one of the easiest risotti to make. It's the perfect thing to make if you're new to cooking with truffles and don't want to mess them up. Here's what you need to know.

What Is Black Truffle Risotto?

Black truffle risotto is a simple white risotto with truffles added. It's made by gradually cooking risotto rice with mild stock or broth. When the rice is done, butter and cheese is added. The truffles are are added to the rice at the very end of cooking or shaved over the top, raw.

Black truffle risotto ingredients: carnaroli rice, truffle butter, fresh truffles. — Truffle risotto ingredients: fresh Périgord winter truffles, risotto rice, and truffle butter.

The truffles could be fresh, in the form of a compound butter, or in another form like oil or paste. As this a rich risotto, it's often served in smaller amounts compared to other risottos that can be large enough to be a meal. It's a common dish to see on Italian tasting menus during truffle season.

A sliced black truffle on a scale showing how much truffle you need for each person to make risotto. — You'll want at least .25 oz black truffle per person to make risotto.

Truffle Butter vs Truffle Oil

You might wonder if you can use truffle infused oils or butters for this recipe. Either can be used, but they can be very different products.

A log of black truffle butter wrapped in parchment next to many fresh black Perigord truffles. — Fresh black truffle butter.

Truffle butter is made with fresh truffles. Truffle oil is often very strong like perfume and often made with synthetic compounds.

A knife next to sliced black perigord truffles and a jar of homemade black truffle oil. — I prefer to use fresh truffles or truffle butter as opposed to oil. Homemade truffle oil is ok to use.

In a perfect world this recipe is made with fresh truffles or truffle paste. Canned truffles or truffle slices in oil are usually flavorless.

Risotto Truffles

Any truffle can be used to make risotto, but some are better than others. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. Black Perigord truffles (Tuber melanosporum) and Alba white truffles (Tuber magnatum-pico) are two of the best you can get but they're also the most expensive.

Tuber brumale black truffles cut in half to show the internal pattern, arranged on a pile of risotto rice before cooking. — *Tuber brumale* is one of the many budget-friendly truffles to try.

Here's a list of interesting, cheaper fresh truffles you can use for risotto you may not have heard of:

Musky Truffles (Tuber brumale)
Bagnoli Black Truffle (Tuber mesentericum)
Summer Truffles (Tuber aestivum)
Pecan Truffles (Tuber lyonii)
Oregon Black Truffles (Tuber oregonese)

Many of these can be ordered online. I buy truffles from my friend Mushroom Mike LLC, but Trufflecart.com and West Coast Wild Foods have worked too.

How to Make Black Truffle Risotto

As it is basically a white risotto with truffles on top this is a very easy risotto to make. It starts out as any other risotto, with a small amount of onion cooked before the rice is added. The images below describe the process.

A yellow onion being cut into small dice for risotto. — Finely dice a small yellow onion.

Cooking diced onion in butter to make risotto. — Cook the onion until translucent.

Adding rice to a pot of onion for making risotto. — Add the rice and cook for a few minutes.

Adding wine to a pan of cooking risotto rice. — Add the wine and cook until evaporated.

Adding chicken stock to a pot of risotto rice cooking. — Gradually add the chicken stock a ladle at a time.

A spatula being dragged through a pan of cooking risotto rice. — Wait until the liquid is absorbed before adding more.

Spreading pre-cooked risotto rice on a tray with a spatula. — Once the rice is half-cooked, you can cool it and reheat it to make serving quicker.

Cutting a black truffle into julienne with a knife. — Cut a truffe into slices or julienne.

Adding truffle butter and minced truffle to risotto at the end of cooking. — At the very end of cooking, add the truffle and truffle butter if using.

Adding parmesan cheese to a pot of risotto. — Add the cheese after the heat is turned off.

Adding a spoonful of truffle oil to a pot of risotto. — If you want to add truffle oil, add some now.

Vigorously beating risotto with a spatula to incorporate butter and cheese. — Vigorously mix the risotto to incorporate the butter and cheese.

A half eaten bowl of black truffle risotto garnished with sliced fresh black truffles. — Serve the risotto garnished with as many truffles as you can afford.

Chef's Tip

Risotto is always served flat in the bowl, never mounded in a pile. This is to ensure every bite of risotto is juicy. Mounding risotto in a pile is a lazy American habit that my Italian chef friends make fun of. The technical term for this is al'onda, or sull'onda. Roughly translated to mean on the wave, it refers to how the risotto should jiggle in the bowl.
Despite what some may say, truffles should never be stored with rice. Rice doesn't contain fat to capture truffle aroma and it will dry the truffles out, ruining them.
Slicing a clove of garlic before cutting the truffle adds a special aroma. A good tip for working with truffles I learned from Chef Jean Louis Palladin.
Pre-cooking risotto helps to save time.

More Things to Make with Truffles

A bowl of black truffle risotto topped with chopped truffles next to a truffle grater with a black truffle on it.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Black Truffle Risotto

Simple, elegant risotto with fresh black truffles is a timeless way to enjoy the earthy flavor of a very special mushroom.

Prep Time5

Cook Time20

Total Time25

Course: Appetizer, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: truffle risotto recipe

Servings: People

Calories: 336kcal

Author: Alan Bergo

Cost: 50

Equipment

1 3 quart sauce pot
1 wooden spoon

Ingredients

1 tablespoon Light olive oil or unsalted butter
2 oz Yellow onion 1 small onion
1 cup Carnaroli rice or Arborio rice
4 tablespoons Truffle butter 2oz at room temperature, or substitute unsalted butter
½ cup Dry white wine
4 cups Chicken stock mix it 50/50 with water
10-28 grams Fresh black truffle plus more for serving
1 Small clove garlic for slicing the truffle, optional
½ cup Grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese or Grana Padano or your favorite parmesan cheese, at room temperature
1 tsp black truffle oil optional

Instructions

In a 3 quart saucepot on medium heat, cook the onion and tablespoon of butter until the onion is translucent. Do not allow the bottom of the pan to color during the entire cooking process.
Add the rice and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the wine and cook until evaporated, then begin adding the stock in ⅓-1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly.
Continue adding stock a ladle at a time, waiting until it's completely absorbed before adding more.
Rub a paring knife with a cut clove of garlic. Thinly slice the fresh truffle and separate into two piles. Finely chop one of the piles.
When the rice is tender and tastes good to you, add the butter and parmesan. Turn the heat off the pan and beat the butter and cheese in with a wooden spoon.
It's important the risotto is loose and juicy, adjust the consistency with a splash of hot chicken stock if it seems too thick.
Add the chopped fresh truffle.
Double check the seasoning for salt and adjust as needed until it tastes good to you. If you must add truffle oil, add it now.
Divide the risotto evenly between 4 heated serving bowls, garnish with as much extra sliced or julienned black truffle as you can and serve immediately.

Video

Notes

Make sure to use homemade, or unseasoned stock. You can also par-cook the risotto to make cooking quick, allowing you more time at the table.

Nutrition

Comments

Lisa Randolph

June 11, 2024 at 7:41 pm

Wow, this was absolutley delicious! I made it tonight to serve along side a "boring sauted chicken breast". I didn't have a fresh truffle, but I keep a frozen chopped black truffle mixture in the freezer. I folded about 2 Tbs into 1/4 c butter to make a truffle butter and blended it into the risotto with the parmesan. My hubby couldn't stop raving about it. Served with a Daou Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. I can't wait to try some of your other recipes!

- Alan Bergo
  
  June 12, 2024 at 10:52 am
  
  Hey thanks Lisa. Glad it worked for you. I'm going to make a note about frozen truffles too-haven't tried them like that.