Florentine Tripe Recipe (Trippa alla Fiorentina)

Thursday, March 19, 2009

This is one of my favourite traditional dishes of Florence, the Florentine tripe (Trippa alla Fiorentina). It’s incredibly tasty, made with “poor” ingredients and it's a big part of the Tuscany popular and ancient tradional cusine.

Ingredients:
1 onion
1 carrot
1 stalk celery
extra-virgin olive oil
3 pounds tripe, blanched and boiled
1 pound canned peeled tomatoes.
Salt
Pepper
Parmigiano cheese


Use only the best parts of the tripe, and cut it into very thin strips.

Clean, wash and chop the onion, carrot and celery and put into a metal pan with olive oil. Cook well, then add the tripe.

When tripe gets golden in colour, add the tomatoes, chopped very finely.

Add salt and pepper, then cook over a very low heat for about half an hour, until the sauce has reduced almost completely, stirring frequently to prevent sticking.

The tripe may be served immediately when is still hot, sprinkled with some grated Parmigiano over.

Tripe is usually served with boiled or mashed potatoes or, if preferred, with cannellini beans and olive oil.

You can try this unique speciality in one of the several tripe stands (trippai) in the streets of the city.
Tripe stands are generally open from 8:30 or 9 a.m. to 6:30 or 7:30 p.m. some of them even on Saturdays.

Some addresses:
Mario Albergucci, Piazzale di Porta Romana.
Sergio Pollini, Via dei Macci (near Borgo La Croce).
Il Trippaio di Firenze, Via Maso Finiguerra.
Marco Bolognesi, Via Gioberti.
Trippaio, Via Dante Alighieri.
Nerbone (inside San Lorenzo Market, 011-39- 055-219-949).

Tuscany Recipe: Summer Farro Salad - Emmer Salad

Monday, December 29, 2008

A fresh tuscany recipe, perfect for summer, easy to prepare and still tasty the day after :-)
This is the basic original recipe, but you can add other ingredients: peppers, olives, zucchine...

Ingredients:

500 gr of emmer (farro)
500 gr of ripe red tomatoes
2 onions
a bunch of basil
extravirgin olive oil
salt
pepper


Preparation:

Wash emmer, than put it in a big pan and fill with water. Add 2 spoons of salt and make it boil: then cook for 30 minutes (or as specified in the instructions on the pack).
Chop tomatoes and onions into small pieces, then chop the asil with your hands. Put everything in a big bowl, add the emmer.
Season with oil, salt and pepper to your choice, mix and refigerate before serving.

Tuscany Recipe: Panzanella

Sunday, December 28, 2008

This is a fresh, tasty, summer recipe: a bread salad, very easy to cook, and it can be prepared even a couple of days before is eaten ;-)

Ingredients:

400 g of day-old country bread (best one is tuscany unsalty bread)

8 red, ripe tomatoes

2 red onions

1 cucumber

a bunch of fresh basil

extra-virgin olive oil

red-wine vinegar

salt

pepper

Preparation:

Cut the bread into 1-inch cubes, then place the cubes in a bowl with water; squeeze them with your hands, put in a large bowl, and crumble it with your fingers.

Cut the cucumber and tomatoes into small pieces, cut the onions into thin slices, then add all to the bread.

Chop the basil and add to the bread, then season with oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Mix gently and place in the frige until serve.