Nom Nom: Madrid-Style Tripe Tapas With Chorizo

You asked for it! We looked for a nice recipe for tripas that seemed tasty and like something we’d want to eat. Now, this particular recipe, for a tapa dish, admittedly contains a lot of ingredients. But don’t be intimidated - we’re sure the great bulk of them are already sitting in your pantry, fridge and spice rack. We split them into groups to make the list a little easier to read. Also, if you’ve never tried tripas, this might be a good dish to start with since it includes so many other flavors and ingredients - like paprika, chorizo and ham. Because you know we’d probably eat a child if it was served with chorizo.

Recipe, after the jump:

Meats:

1 lb “honeycomb” tripe

1 pig’s foot or veal knuckle, split in half

1/4 lb. chorizo, in 1/4-inch slices

1/4 cup diced cured (unsmoked) ham

Herbs and spices:

2 spring parsley

10 peppercorns, lightly crushed

2 cloves, crushed

1 dash of nutmeg

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp dried thyme, or equivalent amount of fresh

1 tbl. sweet red (Spanish) paprika

Other:

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 small tomato, chopped

Salt

1 small onion, coarsely chopped

6 gloves garlic, peeled

2 tbl. olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 tbl. flour

1/2 dried red chili pepper, crumbled (remove seeds if you wish)

Directions:

1. Rinse the tripe well, then put it into a rather large kettle and add cold water to cover. Bring to a boil, then drain immediately.

2. Cut the tripe into 1 1/2-inch squares and return it to the empty kettle.

3. Add 3 cups cold water and the wine, tomato, pig’s foot or veal knuckle, parsley, peppercorns, cloves, nutmeg, bay leaves, thyme, salt to taste, coarsely chopped onion and the garlic. Cover and simmer over low heat for 4 to 5 hours, until the tripe is almost tender.

4. Heat the oil in a skillet and saute the finely chopped onion until it is wilted. Add the chorizo and ham and cook for 5 minutes.

5. Stir in the flour and paprika and cook 1 minute more. Add 1/2 cup of the liquid from the tripe kettle, a little at a time, and cook-stir until the mixture thickens.

6. Add this and the chile to the tripe. Cover and cook 1 - 2 hours more.

7. Remove the cover and continue cooking until the tripe is very tender.

8. Remove the pig’s foot or veal knuckle from the tripe. Remove and discard all skin, bone and fat. Cut the meat into pieces and stir into the tripe.

Still with us? Good! This recipe will yield around 16 little tapa dishes, or about 6 main courses if served with, say, rice or a side of vegetables. Make sure you eat it with big, thick slabs of crusty bread to sop up all the spicy sauce. Aaaand, we’re off to lunch!