Cod Tripe alla Messinese.
Today I present you an ancient recipe from my city, Messina.
It involves the swim bladders of codfish, otherwise known as cod tripe.
This recipe is particularly linked to the city of Messina since the time of the Normans, remaining in tradition and passed down from generation to generation, and I learned it from my grandmother Giovannina, who often prepared it, along with the rolls called “Ventri i piscistoccu”. We would lick our lips and even scoop up the remaining sauce with bread, and use the leftover sauce to dress pasta…
Today, tasting them, I went back 50 years…

think for yourself:

Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Medium
Preparation time: 30 Minutes
Portions: 4
Cooking methods: Slow cooking
Cuisine: Regional Italian
Region: Sicily

344.66 Kcal

calories per serving

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Energy 344.66 (Kcal)
Carbohydrates 37.23 (g) of which sugars 2.08 (g)
Proteins 23.50 (g)
Fat 7.41 (g) of which saturated 2.21 (g)of which unsaturated 2.93 (g)
Fibers 5.71 (g)
Sodium 398.22 (mg)

Indicative values for a portion of 300 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA^* and FoodData Central^** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.

^* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ^** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov

Ingredients

Let’s go shopping

1.32 lbs tripe (of soaked cod or 10.6 oz dried)
1.4 oz Tropea red onion
1.4 oz green olives in brine (pitted)
1.4 oz celery
1.1 oz salted capers (desalted)
1.32 lbs potatoes
17.6 oz tomato sauce (rustic)
1.27 cups water
2 leaves bay leaf
to taste salt
to taste pepper

Cod Tripe alla Messinese

Tools

Cutting Board
Knife
Pan
2 Bowls

Preparation: Cod Tripe alla Messinese

Let’s clean the tripe

When we buy cod tripe, we usually find it soaking in water, and it looks like this.
Take one and with the knife remove the outer parts where there are spines, and then gently scrape them to remove any residues.
When finished, it will look like this.
Cut it into 1.2-inch pieces.
Desalt capers and olives, peel and then cut the potatoes into 0.8-inch pieces.
Do the same with the onion, but cut it into smaller pieces, while leaving the garlic whole.
Pour the extra virgin olive oil and let it flavor for 2 minutes and..
Add chopped celery and previously desalted capers and olives.
Let it flavor for 2 minutes and then..
it’s the turn of the bay leaves.
At this point, add the tomato sauce,
and a little water mixed with leftover sauce
You will also cook the potatoes in this sauce,
covering them with a splatter guard.
They should cook for 3/4 of their cooking time, so once the fork can pierce them, stop cooking, and in the meantime we move on.
In a non-stick pan, heat some extra virgin olive oil, and brown the pieces of cod tripe for 1 minute, and set them aside.
When the potatoes are cooked to 3/4, add the tripe, and, mix gently and let it cook just for 5 minutes.
Sprinkle with lots of black pepper, and serve the dish very hot, and with the remaining sauce you can dress the pasta.
Here is the Cod Tripe alla Messinese ready