Trippa alla Romana

Honeycomb tripe braised in tomato and finished with mint, not parsley.

Beef. Not vegetarian — contains Pecorino Romano made with lamb rennet, beef.

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg honeycomb tripe, cleaned, in strips
• 700 g passata
• 1 onion, 1 carrot, 1 celery stick, chopped
• 150 ml dry white wine
• a large handful of mint leaves
• 80 g pecorino romano, grated
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons salt

Method

1. This is the honeycomb — the second stomach — not the lampredotto used in Florence, which is the fourth and cooks to a different texture entirely.
2. Boil the tripe in salted water for 1 hour, then drain it and cut it into finger-width strips. Buying it pre-cleaned still leaves this hour to do.
3. Soften the vegetables in the oil, add the wine, then the passata.
4. Add the tripe and braise, covered, on a low heat for 2 hours, until it yields completely but still has a slight resistance.
5. MINT, NOT PARSLEY, AND ADDED OFF THE HEAT. The mint is what makes it Roman — parsley gives you a perfectly good tripe stew that is somebody else's dish, and mint cooked in the pot for two hours tastes of nothing by the end.
6. Season at the end and stir in half the pecorino.
7. Rest it 15 minutes and serve with the rest of the cheese and bread. It is better the next day.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Italy · All recipes