Tripe with potatoes Sicilian-style, grandma’s recipe for a truly tasty peasant dish. Tripe stewed with potatoes in tomato sauce is a dish that takes me back to childhood and in Catania we also know it as “bisecca”. I remember my mother made it quite often for my father, and my grandmother Fernanda did not shy away from preparing it often throughout the year. I never had prejudices about offal; I like it and always have, also because in my family’s tradition cooking the “fifth cut” was always something normal. Unfortunately, and here’s the funny part, my husband doesn’t like offal, he cannot tolerate the smell nor the taste and consequently in 20 years of marriage I never cooked it, which made my children develop prejudices about these foods as well. A few days ago, however, at the supermarket I saw the tripe and I remembered the tripe with potatoes my mother used to make; I gave in to the desire and without thinking of the rest of the family I decided to cook it even if I would be the only one to eat it. Once ready, between complaints about the smell, I brought it to the table; my men did not eat it but my daughter and I had a delightful feast! Now I’ll tell you my mom’s recipe for Catania-style tripe with potatoes, but if you are looking for something simpler, also try the simple version of tripe in tomato sauce or the more traditional Trippa alla Romana.

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Ingredients for making tripe with potatoes

2.2 lb beef tripe (already cleaned)
1 carrot
1 white onion
1.3 lb potatoes
4.25 cups tomato passata
to taste salt
to taste extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp sugar (for the sauce)
1 pinch chili pepper
1 stalk celery

Tools

Pot
Stovetop

Tripe with potatoes – Grandma’s recipe

Buy tripe from your butcher or at the supermarket already cleaned and blanched; this will save you the unpleasant and difficult work of whitening it and the long 1-hour boiling that precedes the dish’s preparation.

Once the tripe is ready and rinsed under running water, rinse and peel the vegetables and chop them into small pieces. Let them soften over high heat with a good splash of oil, add the tripe, season with salt and cook for a few minutes (if you like, add half a glass of white wine and deglaze). Add the tomato passata, the chili pepper, a full glass of water and cook covered over low heat for 90 minutes to two hours, adding more water if needed.
After this time, when the tripe is tender, add the potatoes (rinsed, peeled and cut into large pieces) and, if necessary, a little more water.
Stir, cover and cook for another 20 minutes, then turn off the heat, let rest for 30 minutes with the lid on and serve.
Store any leftover tripe in the fridge, covered airtight, and consume within 24 hours after reheating.