Home Cooked: Trippa alla Romana

We’ve been stuck at home due to the pouring rain so Hubby decided he would cook dinner.
We had some tripe in the fridge that was supposed to be for kare-kare (peanut sauce stew) but Hubby wanted to be adventurous and chose to cook up a Mario Batali recipe

TRIPPA ALLA ROMANA
recipe by Mario Batali (lifted from the Food Network)

Ingredients

2 pounds tripe
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 red onion, thinly sliced (i don’t like red onions so hubby used white onions)
4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup pecorino Romano, freshly grated
1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, freshly grated
1 bunch mint leaves, finely chopped
2 cups basic tomato sauce, recipe follows

BASIC TOMATO SAUCE:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 Spanish onion, chopped in 1/4-inch dice
4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves, or 1 tablespoon dried
1/2 medium carrot, finely shredded
2 (28-ounce) cans peeled whole tomatoes, crushed by hand and juices reserved
Salt, to taste

In a 3-quart saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft and light golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the thyme and carrot and cook 5 minutes more, until the carrot is quite soft. Add the tomatoes and juice and bring to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes until as thick as hot cereal. Season with salt and serve. This sauce holds 1 week in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer. Yield: 4 cups

…now for the rest of the dish…

Directions

In a large pot combine the tripe, vinegar, vanilla and enough water to cover the tripe by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until the tripe is very tender, about 1 to 1 1/4 hours, replenishing the water as necessary. (We used the pressure cooker which cut the cooking time in half)

Drain the tripe, reserving the cooking liquid, and allow to cool. Slice the tripe into 1-inch strips.

In a 14 to 16-inch skillet, heat the olive oil over high heat until almost smoking. Add the onion, garlic and tripe and saute 3 minutes. Add the tomato sauce, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook, covered, for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the grated cheeses and the mint and stir to combine. When the tripe is finished, divide evenly among 6 warmed bowls (or place in a serving dish like we did) and top with the cheese and mint mixture.

This dish is similar to callos, a dish i love to order whenever we’re at a Spanish tapas bar, minus the sausage, olives and chickpeas. The tripe was so soft & tasty from cooking in the white vinegar & vanilla and the tomato sauce was just so delicious, made even better by the grated cheese! I told hubby that next time we could probably use this sauce for a chicken dish…yummy!

To everyone in flooded or flood prone areas hang in there… stay safe & dry. It can’t rain forever……

What did you have for dinner on this rainy evening?