Tripe a la Fiorentina

[La Quinta]

For those of you that are from England...my hubby asked me to post this recipe. I guess, when my hubby was young, his mum used to simmer/boil tripe in onions and milk. HE HATED IT. One summer my Mom was out with us in Southern California and made this recipe that she got from a 1961 Time Life cookbook. It is great (if you're into tripe). Even if your not...just try this...

2 LBS of honeycomb tripe (cut into 2 inch strips and cut in half again horizontally)
1/4 cup of olive oil
3/4 cup of diced onions
1/2 cup of celery
3 TSP of tomato paste
2 cups of chicken broth
2 TBLS of frsh parsley (I use 1 TBL of dried)
1/2 TSP of minced garlic (I use a whole lot more)
1/4 TSP of marjoram
1/2 TSP salt (I use more)
And pepper to taste
1/2 cup of parmesean cheese (grated)

Heat the oil (meduim high)
Add the onions, garlic and celery (saute for 3-4 minutes)
Add the tripe and toss (for another 2-3 minutes)

Disolve the tomato paste in a warmed chicken stock, add the parsley, salt and marjoram (I add a load of pepper here).

Bring the entire mixture to a boil...then simmer slowly for 2.5 to 3 hours (untile the tripe is cooked). That's the original recipe.

I like to do this in a pressure cooker in a lot less time. For those of you that have a pressure cooker...follow the directions up until the simmer part...you should be able to pressure this nicely for about 25 minutes (for 2 lbs of tripe).

Prepare a bowl with a nice piece of chunky bread in the bottom. We did home-made sourdough tonight! Spoon the tripe mix over the bread and top with parmesean cheese.
For those of you, who will try this...it's really good!!

[Consiglieri]

Tripa.  No kidding.  You have one open mind, brave young lady.  Some of the old timers at the San Francisco Italian Athletic Club love this stuff.  And it looks like you have a good old country recipe.  That said, most of us other club members would opt for the bolito (which translates as boiled meat, but is really Italian pot roast).

Cheers in spirit.  Buon Appetito. 

[3rensho]

I'm gonna give that recipe a try soon.  There's a butcher in town that has veal tripe every week and I love the stuff.  Thanks for posting the recipe La Quinta.  If you have any other recipes for organ meats I'd be interested.

Tom