As regular readers of this blog will know, I’m a big fan of those under-appreciated variety meats. Trippa, or tripe, is certainly no exception. Here at Memorie di Angelina, we’ve featured tripe recipes from Milan, Rome and Florence.

Today’s recipe comes from Calabria. Trippa e patate alla calabrese, or Calabrian Style Tripe and Potato Stew, is essentially tripe and potatoes simmered in tomato sauce. So far so typical of many if not most Italian tripe dishes. But what sets this recipe apart from the others is its typically Calabria spiciness. A peperoncino or two goes in, of course, but that’s not all. The recipe calls for a good dash of polvere di peperone dolce, or sweet pepper powder, which infuses the dish with a distinctive earthy flavor. And to finish things off, in go bits of peperoni cruschi, sun-dried red peppers.

This layering of spices makes for an incredibly tasty dish. And one that’s quite unusual for Italian cookery, which normally values simple, clean flavors over complexity. But that difference is the charm of this unique dish.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

To pre-cook the tripe:

1 kilo (2 lbs) tripe, partially pre-cooked
A small onion, cut in half
A small carrot, cut into lengths
A stalk of celery, cut into lengths
A spring of parsley
Salt

For the braise:

1 red onion or 2-3 spring onions, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
A bay leaf
A sprig or a pinch of dried oregano (see Notes)
A good pour of red wine
2-3 Tbs Calabrian sweet pepper powder
1 small can (400g/14oz) of tomatoes, milled or crushed
1 dried hot red pepper or a (small) pinch of red pepper flakes
500g (1 lb) yellow fleshed potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
Olive oil
Salt

Optional finishing touch:

3-4 peperoni cruschi (sun-dried peppers), soaked until soft and broken into pieces (see Notes)

Directions

If you’re tripe isn’t fully pre-cooked (see Notes), place it in a large pot with the onion, carrot, celery, salt and enough water to cover. Simmer for a good hour or more, until almost tender. (Or use a pressure cooker, using the “stew” function or set at high pressure for 20-30 minutes.)

Drain the tripe and run fresh water over it. Leave it to cool and drain in a colander. When the tripe has cooled off, pat it dry with paper towel and cut it into bite-sized strips. Set aside until needed.

Now, in a terracotta or cast iron pot, gently sauté the onion in abundant olive oil until soft and translucent. Add the garlic, bay leaf and oregano and give it a stir, let everything sauté gently for just a minute, then add the tripe and give it a stir, too, so it’s well-covered with the olive oil and aromatics, seasoning with salt as you go. Stir in the wine and let it evaporate, then sprinkle in the sweet pepper powder and stir, so that the tripe is entirely coated with it.

Add the tomatoes to the pot and enough water (or, if you prefer, broth) to barely cover the tripe. Cover and simmer until the tripe is fully tender.

When the tripe is nearly tender, add the potatoes along with the peperoncino. Top up with water if needed and continue simmering until the potatoes, too, are tender. If using, mix in the pieces of peperoni cruschi to the pot a few minutes before the end of cooking.

Let the dish rest off heat for 10-15 minutes, then serve.

Notes

Trippa e patate alla calabrese is quite easy. And like a lot of Italian recipes, it’s almost infinitely adjustable to your liking. Add more or less potato, more or less tomato, turn the spiciness up or down. And so on. Admittedly, it does call for a good number of ingredients that you’re unlikely to find in the average supermarket. So here are a few tips on those unusual ingredients and where to find them:

About tripe

As mentioned in this post, tripe comes in different types, corresponding to the the four chambers of a cow’s digestive track: three “pre-stomachs”—rumen, reticulum and omasum—and the actual stomach of the cow, the abomasum. And the recipe that inspired me (see below) calls for three different types, but you can make this dish with more or less any type of tripe, including the relatively easy to find “honeycomb” or the reticulum. I made today’s dish with the smooth skinned rumen. Like a lot of variety meats, tripe is becoming harder and harder to find these days. In the US, “ethnic” markets, in particular Asian and Latino ones, are your best bet. And if you’re lucky enough to have a real butcher near you, they may have it or be able to special order it for you.

In Italy, tripe is often sold almost fully pre-cooked, so it only needs perhaps 30-45 minutes simmering. Here in US, tripe is “semi”-pre cooked and you never really know how long it’s going to take to cook. I’ve suggesting pre-cooking the tripe for an hour to start (or 20 minutes under pressure) but depending on the source, it may take upwards of two hours or more. The tripe I worked with for today’s recipe took a good hour under pressure. Of course, if you like, you can also simply simmer the tripe in the tomato sauce for that much longer. But pre-cooking has the added advantage of removing any gaminess from the tripe.

Polvere di peperoni dolci

The Calabrian sweet pepper powder that gives this dish such a unique flavor profile can be found online. It will remind you of Hungarian paprika and Spanish pimentón. But, as the name implies, this one has a certain sweetness to it, even more so than sweet paprika, and only a hint of spiciness. Like sweet paprika, it is made by drying sweet red peppers and then grinding them into a fine powder. There is no smoking involved. It’s worth a purchase (it’s quite reasonably priced) but in a pinch, you could use sweet paprika. I’d avoid pimentón, as delicious as it is, as it would give the dish an uncharacteristic smokiness.

Peperoni cruschi

The other characteristic ingredient is peperoni cruschi, or sun-dried peppers. The peppers are placed on cloths for three days in a shady and dry place, then tied up and hung up to dry some more, traditionally on windows, balconies and walls. They are typical of the cooking of Basilicata and Calabria, and are more or less impossible to find in here in stores here in the US. They can be found online, but at exorbitant prices and Rosetta Costantino points out, not really worth it.

Oregano

If you can, use sprigs of dried oregano rather than the usual kind you’ll find in small jars. Again, Greek oregano can be purchased online. You’ll be amazed at how much more fragrant it is!

Sfizi di Calabria

I took inspiration for this recipe for trippa e patate alla calabrese from one of my favorite Youtube channels, Sfizi di Calabria hosted by a fellow named Gianluca. Here is the video if you want to check it out. It’s in Italian, but especially having read the recipe above, you should be able to follow along just fine, even if you don’t understand the language:

As you will see, I’ve made a few tweaks to the recipe in the video., including making the peperoni cruschi optional. Gianluca calls them fundamental to the dish, but truth be told, most recipes I’ve seen for trippa alla calabrese don’t call for them.

Print Recipe