Pour the olive oil into a large pan and add a few slices of truffle. Without turning the heat on, leave the truffle to infuse in the oil so it gains flavour, while you get on with the vegetables. Clean the carrots, celery and onions, and then chop them all coarsely. Remove the slices of truffle from the oil, put the pan over a low heat and add the chopped vegetables, stirring from time to time, until the mixture is almost creamy. Now add the pieces of meat and, once they have browned all over, season with salt and pepper and pour in the wine until it covers everything completely. Put the lid on the pan, leaving it slightly uncovered, and cook slowly over a very low heat for 4 hours, stirring every now and again. A tip: if the wine should reduce too quickly, add some broth, not more wine. Once cooked, the pieces of cheek will be as tender as butter. Serve them in their sauce (to which you have added the truffle that you removed from the oil) with a generous sprinkling of fresh truffle shavings... absolutely delicious!
Beef or veal cheek is a front quarter cut that’s not widely used yet full of flavour, as is often the case with these “poor” cuts, and it lends itself to various recipes. This is dish that will be highly appreciated by those who love “ciccia” (= meat).
To slice the truffle, we suggest that you use a “truffle shaver”, or in any case a mandoline or grater that does thin slices. And on the subject of truffles, it’s important to remove all the earth from them. To do so, use a brush with semi-rigid bristles; first brush the truffle well while dry, then wash the brush and while the bristles are still slightly damp remove any remaining dust, lastly dry the truffle very thoroughly. To preserve the aroma as much as possible, only do this “cleansing routine” just before cooking.