Beef and Tripe Stew Roman Style
(Contains Beef / Tripe / Contains Gluten / Contains Dairy / Contains Egg)
(After writing the recipe for this soup and calculating the calories, I initially wanted to scrap the soup as the estimated calorie count was a whopping 515 calories. I recalled how customers wrote in with their feedback when the calories for a bowl of Tuscan Seafood or Florentine Beef Stew tipped the scale at around 360 calories. After much deliberation, I decided to continue with this soup as this is a well-deserved heritage dish in Rome and I truly want everyone to be able to taste it here in Singapore. Rest assured I have made every effort to clean the tripe thoroughly and all fats have been trimmed off!)
One thing that I find very similar between the Chinese and the Italians is that nothing goes to waste. “II quinto quarto” or “fifth quarter” is a huge part of Roman cuisine. While the rich in the past had eschewed some parts of the butchered animal, these same rejected bits of tails, hearts, lungs, intestines etc were given as part of the salary of the slaughterhouse workers. Under the creative culinary powess of their wives, these bits were transformed into delectable dishes, giving birth to “quinto qurato”, along with an entire cuisine centred around offal. Trippa alla romana is a traditional speciality one can find in every local trattoria in Rome today. I had the opportunity to try this dish when I was in Rome and despite my initial apprehension, I found it really wonderful. In our version, we have stewed beef and tripe in tart tomato sauce and fresh herbs to undercut the richness of the stomach. Indeed my idea of comfort food – every sliver of tender tripe bursting with tomato sauce coated in a precious pool of egg yolk and topped with a zesty gremolata (parmesan cheese mixed with lemon zest and parsley)!
Ingredients: Beef stock (water, beef bones, herbs), NZ grass-fed beef, beef tripe, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, penne pasta, zucchini, leek, parmesan cheese, celery, onions, capers, garlic, fresh herbs, lemons, salt and sugar.
Condiments: Gremolata (a mix of parsley, lemon rind and parmesan cheese) and soft-boiled egg.