This recipe, a slightly streamlined version of the dish that Chef Gareth Storey does at Antiga Camponesa, is admittedly time-consuming, but each step can be done as many as several days in advance. Indeed, according to Gareth, the finished dish benefits from a day or two of that magic that happens in the fridge: “I wouldn’t serve this on the same day. It’s much better after.”

At Antiga Camponesa, Gareth uses different beans, but here we’ve gone with the more traditional feijão branco, or white beans. He also prefers honeycomb tripe, but any type of tripe can be used in this dish. Cooking in Lisbon, Gareth has access to a variety of Portuguese sausages, but you can use whatever is available to you; Spanish chorizo works as a rough substitute.

And at the restaurant, Gareth serves dobrada paired with rice or bread. The former is more standard in Lisbon.

For the tripe:

500g honeycomb veal tripe (or other type of tripe)

2 teaspoons salt

1 bay leaf

For the beans:

250g dried white beans

1/2 teaspoon salt

For the stew:

1 tablespoon lard

1 small carrot (around 80g), peeled, halved lengthwise and sliced

1 stalk celery (around 50g), trimmed, halved lengthwise and sliced

1 teaspoon salt

1 onion (around 180g), peeled and chopped

1 large, fresh, mild chili (around 15g), seeded and chopped

80g smoked bacon, cubed

1 bay leaf

60ml white wine

390g skinned, chopped tomatoes

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 farinheira (a type of Portuguese flour sausage; optional; around 100g)

1/2 chouriço (a type of spicy Portuguese sausage; optional; around 120g)

1/2 morcela (Portuguese blood sausage; optional; around 130g)

1 sprig of parsley, chopped

For serving Bread or rice Chili oil (optional)

Prepare the tripe:

Up to a few days in advance, in a stockpot, combine the tripe, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and enough water to cover the tripe by a couple centimeters. Over high heat, bring the water to the boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat and discard the water, retaining the tripe. Repeat this step two more times, for a total of three times.

Refrigerate until ready to prepare the rest of the dish.

In the stockpot, combine the tripe along with aromatic kitchen scraps from the next step in this recipe – onion skins, carrot peels and off-cuts, parsley stems, celery off-cuts – bay leaf, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and enough water to cover by a couple centimeters.

Over high heat, bring the water to the boil, reduce heat, cover the stockpot and simmer until the tripe is tender enough to slice through easily with a knife, around 2 hours. Drain, discarding the aromatics, and retain 1 liter of the liquid. When the tripe is cool enough to handle, cut into 2cm by 3cm pieces. Set aside.

Prepare the beans:

Up to a few days in advance, in a stockpot, combine the beans, salt and enough water to cover by 5 centimeters. Over high heat, bring the water to the boil, reduce heat, cover the stockpot and simmer until the beans are tender, around 1 hour. Strain and discard the cooking liquid, retaining the beans.

Prepare the dish:

Up to a few days in advance, melt the lard over medium-low heat in a stockpot. Add the carrots, celery and salt, stirring occasionally until just soft, around 2 minutes. Add the onions, smoked bacon, chili and bay leaf, stirring occasionally until the onion is just soft and the smoked bacon is starting to render, around 5 minutes. Add white wine, stirring to combine. Add the canned tomatoes, tomato paste and the white pepper, stirring to combine. Add the sausages, the reserved tripe, and the reserved cooking liquid. Increase heat to high, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for an hour.

Remove the sausages (typically the farinheira will have “melted” into the broth). When cool enough to handle, slice. Add the sausages and the reserved beans to the stew. Simmer for another 30 minutes.

Remove to a serving dish, garnish with parsley and serve, hot, with rice or bread.