Cipriani Pasta with White Truffle Butter

This is the kind of dish you make for a very special occasion - Valentine's Day, your love's birthday, Christmas Eve.  You are done in 30 minutes and your results will be amazing. It is so wonderful that I am really not even going to suggest substitutes.  If you can not find the pasta or the white truffle butter I will come up with a different dish for you  (By the way if you can't find them at your market you can order both through amazon).  Sounds like a lot of trouble, but it is completely worth it. 

Cipriani Pasta with White Truffle Butter, serves 2
adapted from Barefoot Contessa's recipe
1 package Cipriani Pasta, pappardelle or tagliarelle
3 oz white truffle butter
1/2 cup of fat free Half & Half
Mediterranean Sea salt, fresh pepper & red pepper flakes
2 -3 oz of Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped chives

While you are bringing a large pot of salted water to a boil bring the half and half to a simmer in a large pan.  Turn the heat down to low and add butter, crank of sea salt, pepper and tiny pinch of red pepper flakes. Let butter melt and keep warm on very low heat. Cipriani pasta only takes 3 minutes to cook, watch closely, drain and add to the butter mixture & toss together.  Serve immediately garnished with the Parmesan cheese and fresh chives.

Enjoy - we do!!!
Some notes here - I find both of these items at my local Fresh Market, the pasta runs around $7.99 and the white truffle butter was 5.99.  As a testament to the amazingness of the white truffle butter - even those that can not stand mushrooms adore it!  My husband will not go near any type of mushroom, not at all.  The first time I made this I didn't disclose the truffle angle.  After he devoured his bowl and was so pitifully disappointed that there was no more to have I told him. He didn't even flinch.  Actually I was going to surprise him with this dish for Sunday Supper tonight, but when he stumbled across the pasta and the butter he caught on and I switched it to Saturday Night Dinner.
Also - go ahead and be sinful - add regular 1/2 & 1/2 or heavy cream.  The fat free variety is what I keep stocked for coffee and use in my cooking too.  If it was Christmas Eve or Valentine's I think I would go with the real thing!  I watched the movie The Holiday last Sunday & was craving this dish after listening to Kate Winslet talk about Christmas fettuccine.