Guy Manning’s Truffle Ajo Blanco

Every now and then we’ll be featuring a recipe from one of our friends / customers (usually the same thing), showcasing some great ideas for delicious ways to serve truffles…

Kicking things off here is our very old friend Guy Manning from The Red Lion Freehouse in Wiltshire. Guy is a fantastic cook – having worked at Chez Bruce then Per Se he has for the last decade been receiving untold acclaim for his incredible food at The Red Lion, winning a Michelin star 5 years ago and keeping it ever since.

Here he serves his take on a classic summer soup, and it goes SO well with Australian black winter truffles…

Ajo Blanco with truffles

A recipe by Chef Guy Manning

1 cup (6 oz) blanched almonds
4 slices crustless white bread, soaked in cold water for 5 minutes
3 garlic cloves
5 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 cups (20 fl. oz) cold water
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
salt

Method: soak together overnight and then spin until smooth.

Garnish with white wine poached apple, fennel oil, wet almonds, sourdough croutons and chive flowers.

Then microplane black winter truffle generously over the top at the table side.

Garnish instructions:

Poached apple: Dice apple and then poach in a white wine solution made as follows: bring 1 bottle of white wine to the boil, skim any foam then add 3 cups water and 1 cup sugar. Return to the boil until sugar has dissolved then stir in the juice of a lemon.

Fennel oil: blanch fennel fronds and parsley in boiling water for 15 seconds then plunge in to an ice bath. Dry, chop and then blend with olive oil.

Sourdough croutons: cut bread, bake in oven with olive oil until crisp.