My version is heavy with red bell peppers and Pimenton Dulce (sweet Spanish paprika). Of course, the “sweet” in the paprika isn’t really sugary, it’s more of a way to distinguish it from the hot kind of paprika. As I’ve said, the way I make Callos, or even Paella, is with lots of red bell peppers, cooked low and slow to form a sofrito, the base of sautéed aromatics, similar to our ginisa. As a foil to the sweet, salty chorizo and olives provide the savory component to the otherwise bland ox tripe. The spice comes from a bit of chili powder and black pepper.
Ingredients:
For the tripe and feet:
500 g ox tripe, cleaned
1 kg ox feet, cleaned
1 pc whole onion peeled and cut in half
1 head garlic sliced in half
1 tbsp whole peppercorns
2 pcs bay leaf
2 tbsp salt
For stewing:
3 pcs red bell peppers, sliced thinly or
2 jars roasted red bell peppers, drained and sliced
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 pcs large onions, sliced thinly
2 pcs chorizo bilbao, cubed
1 can garbanzos
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup tomato puree or tomato sauce
1 bottle pitted green olives
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp Spanish paprika
salt to taste
Procedure:
- In a large pot, combine tripe and ox feet and cover with water.
- Add salt, peppercorns, garlic onion and bay leaves.
- Boil until tripe and ox feet are very tender. Let cool down.
- Once cool, slice tripe into bite-sized pieces and remove bones from ox feet and do the same. Set aside. Keep cooking liquid.
- In another pan, place chorizo with oil and sauté for a minute. Add sliced bell peppers, sliced onions and garlic and continue to sauté until very soft.
- Add tomato paste, tomato sauce, olives, drained garbanzos, paprika and a cup of the cooking liquid.
- Add tender tripe and ox feet pieces and let everything stew for 20 minutes and adjust seasoning if needed.
- Serve with toasted crusty bread.
- Once the beef is tender, add the squash, sweet potato and corn. Continue cooking on low heat, uncovered, until the sweet potato and squash are tender, about 15 minutes.
- Serve hot.