Beef Fillet with Black Truffles

Umbria is famed for its truffles, which are used in a variety of dishes adding a distinctive and rich flavour that is highly regarded by gourmets. An annual truffle festival is even held each year to celebrate this regional delicacy.

This recipe, which appears here (with permission) from Christine Smallwood’s book An Appetite for Umbria (RRP £19.99, pub. Bonny Day Publishing) combines black truffles with a fillet of beef. It’s a substantial main course, but can be cooked surprisingly fast. The recipe is provided by Angelo Zarbo, the chef at Osteria del Gambero, a well established restaurant in Perugia, the capital of Umbria. The restaurant is hidden away down a side street, but has such a reputation for good food that people make an effort to seek it out. Once inside, you get great views over the rooftops of Perugia. In the book, Christine Smallwood says that while it’s ideally made with fresh black truffles, Caciotta (a soft cheese) and Sagrantino wine, you can still produce a delicious dish by using inventive substitutes.

Beef Fillet stuffed with Truffles and Caciotta in a Sagrantino Sauce: Recipe

(Filetto Farcito con Tartufo e Caciotta in Salsa di Sagrantino)

Ingredients - Serves 4

• 800g beef fillet (200g per person)
• black truffle from Norcia (150g fresh, sliced or 50g of truffle paste)
• 200g Caciotta (or a soft cheese such as a Bel Paese or Fontina)
• 8 slices pancetta, or streaky bacon (2 slices per fillet)
• 250ml Sagrantino wine (a red wine from Umbria)
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt
• knob of butter
• and some string

Method

1. Cut each fillet horizontally, but not quite all the way through, and open as a book. Stuff the fillet with slices of truffle (or the paste) and Caciotta.
2. Wrap the pancetta around the edge of the fillet and bind it with kitchen string. Lightly fry it on both sides in the olive oil for about 2 minutes, and then add the Sagrantino wine to the pan.
3. Check the seasoning, and keep on a high heat to reduce the amount of liquid and thereby intensify the flavour.
4. Remove from the heat and bind the sauce with a cold knob of butter. Serve immediately.

Christine Smallwood suggests that you serve a red wine from Umbria with this dish, such as Campoleone Lamborghini.

You can try another recipe from the book such as Pasta with Lamb and Saffron.

There’s a companion book to this title, An Appetite for Puglia, which also features delicious regional Italian recipes such as traditional Taieddha, made with mussels, potatoes and parmesan cheese.

Perugia in Umbria

Beef with Truffles

Print Article

Email Article

View All Articles

How to subscribe to feeds