Istrian fuži with truffle sauce | Istarski fuži s tartufima

Truffles. I love them.

Some people can't stand the smell, texture, taste even the knobbly sight of them...but to me, truffles are the taste of the earth (in the best possible way), and perhaps more than that, the earth of Istria.

Truffles in cheese, truffles on pizza, truffles tossed through pasta. But I pretty much only eat truffles when in Croatia and then take a jar (or two) away with me to Sydney. The pasta of choice when served with an Istrian truffle is fuži (twirly pasta) and this is the first time I've made my very own fuži to go with this truffley goodness.

In Istria the forests along the Mirna River make the perfect home for this famous fungus. The town of Buzet sits in the heart of this pungenty goodness and is known as Croatia's 'city of truffles.' Buzet is known for both its black and white truffles and you can even do tours to find your own truffles. Anyway, I used black truffles in this recipe.

While I love this recipe, I feel like you could add a touch more salt and possibly a clove (or two) of garlic. Super truffle-lovers would possibly set their hair on fire and tell you that garlic would ruin the taste of truffle, but I think it would add to it. Anyway, I still have a bit more left in my jar so next week I'll try this with garlic.

Of course, if you don't want to make your own pasta, you can use the store bought stuff. It would be much faster.

But for those of you who want the authentic Istrian dish, you gotta make your own.

Let me know if you tried it and how it went

Dobar Tek! Zivjeli! (Bon appetit! Cheers and let's live!)