Busecca ticinese (tripe soup with garlic bread) ticino

3 tb Borlotti beans
      3 x  Carrots
      1 x  Leek
      1 x  Small knob celery
    500 g  Honeycomb tripe (1 lb)
     30 g  butter (1 oz)
      1 x  Clove garlic, mashed
      1 tb Tomato paste
  1 1/4 l  Bouillon (5 cups)
    1/4 ts Caraway seeds
      1 x  Twig thyme
     80 g  Parmesan, grated (2.75 oz)
      1 x  Twig parsley
           Salt, freshly ground pepper

--------------------------------garlic BREAD--------------------------------
    200 g  French bread (7 oz)
     50 g  butter (1.75 oz)
      4 x  Cloves garlic, mashed
     10 g  Gruyere, grated (0.25 oz)
      1 tb parsley
           Salt, freshly ground pepper
 
  Preparation: 30 minutes, cooking time: 3 hours
  
  Yields 6 servings as a first course, as a main course double the
  ingredients.
  
  Soak beans overnight. Drain beans. Cook in lightly salted water until
  tender. Drain. Set aside.
  
  Clean, trim and wash the vegetables (carrots, leek, celery). Slice the
  carrots finely, slice the leek diagonally, slice the celery finely and cut
  into squares.
  
  Cut the tripe into strips 4 cm ( 1 9/16 in) long and 2 mm (1/16 in) wide.
  Fill a kettle with water, add salt, bring to the boil. Add tripe and cook
  for 2 1/2 hours. Drain.
  
  In a saucepan heat butter. Saute' vegetables briefly. Add tripe, garlic and
  tomato paste. Saute' briefly. Moisten with bouillon, simmer for 20 minutes.
  Season with caraway, thyme, salt and pepper. Add Borlotti beans and heat.
  
  Serve in soup plates, sprinkle with cheese (Parmesan) or serve separately.
  Garnish with parsley.
  
  garlic bread: cut bread into slices, toast in oven. Beat butter until
  creamy, chop parsley finely, blend butter with garlic, cheese (Gruyere) and
  parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Spread bread with butter mixture,
  gratinate under broiler until golden brown. Serve with soup.