Fabulicious!: Teresa's Italian Family Cookbook (11 page)

2.
Generously flour a rimmed baking sheet. Roll the dough into a thick log, and then cut into 16 equal portions. On a clean work surface, using clean, dry hands, roll 1 portion of dough under your palms into a long rope about ¼-inch thick. Cut the rope into 1-inch lengths. Here is where your Play-Doh training really comes in: Wrap a piece of dough around a pencil, spoon, or round chopstick until the sides almost meet—it will look like a little hot dog bun. Slide off and onto the baking sheet. (The cavatelli can be made up to 8 hours ahead, covered loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerated.)

3.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Carefully add the cavatelli and cook until they all float on the surface of the water, 1 to 3 minutes. Drain carefully (they are delicate and you don’t want to smash them.) Serve hot.

Franco’s Fettuccine with Creamy Portobello Sauce

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Now that you’ve had a chance to make your own pasta, let’s finish it off with a spectacular sauce. Fettuccine is one of the easiest noodles to make—the sloppier you cut it, the more “authentic” and “rustic” it will look—so here is my father-in-law’s favorite sauce to go with it.

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 portobello mushrooms, trimmed, caps and stems cut into ½-inch dice

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

½ cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Italian parsley

4 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Perfect Pasta Dough (
page 55
), cut into fettuccine, or 1 pound store-bought fresh fettuccine

⅓ cup (1½ ounces) freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving

1.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat.

2.
Meanwhile, to make the sauce, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, onion, and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms give off their liquid, it evaporates, and they begin to brown, about 7 minutes. Add the wine and cook until it evaporates by half, about 1 minute. Stir in the cream, parsley, and sage and bring to a boil. Cook until lightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and cover to keep warm.

3.
Add the fettuccine to the boiling water and cook just until barely tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain in a colander. Return the pasta to the pot. Add the sauce and Parmigiano and stir gently. Serve hot, with a bowl of grated Parmigiano passed on the side.

Teresa’s Tagliatelle alla Vodka

Makes 4 to 6 servings

I gave you my favorite tagliatelle (with peas and ham) recipe in
Skinny Italian,
but truth be told, I love tagliatelle cooked anyway, anyhow, with just about anything. I’ve gotten so many requests for my vodka sauce, I thought I’d combine the two. You can, of course, use the traditional penne pasta for this dish, but since I just taught you how to make pasta, I hope you’ll make it with some homemade tagliatelle. Then, when you eat it, think of me . . . right before you scream, “Prostitution Whore! Engaged 19 times!”

2 cups The Quickie Tomato Sauce (
page 22
)

⅓ cup vodka

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

½ cup heavy cream

Perfect Pasta Dough (
page 55
), cut into tagliatelle, or 1 pound store-bought fresh tagliatelle

Freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese, for serving

1.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat.

2.
Meanwhile, to make the sauce, bring the tomato sauce to a simmer in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the vodka and red pepper flakes and simmer, stirring often, for 10 minutes. Add the cream and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring often, until slightly reduced, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and cover to keep warm.

3.
Add the tagliatelle to the water and cook just until tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain in a colander. Return to the pot. Add the sauce and stir gently. Let stand to allow the pasta to absorb some of the sauce, about 2 minutes. Serve hot, with the grated Romano served on the side.

My Manzo Ravioli

Makes about 4 dozen ravioli (6 to 8 servings)

This is not a quick dish, but it’s so much fun, especially when you get kids or friends involved with the cutting and assembling! If you want a smoother, moister middle, you can use ground veal instead of ground beef.

Filling

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

8 ounces ground beef sirloin (93% lean)

½ medium onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

¼ cup ricotta cheese

¼ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1 large egg, beaten

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh Italian parsley

½ teaspoon dried oregano

¼ teaspoon salt

⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Perfect Pasta Dough (
page 55
)

1 large egg, beaten

3 ½ cups The Quickie Tomato Sauce (
page 22
), warmed

½ cup ricotta cheese, at room temperature, for serving

Chopped fresh basil, for serving

Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, for serving

1.
To make the filling, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the ground sirloin, onion, and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, breaking up the beef well with the side of a spoon, until it loses its raw look, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and let cool slightly.

2.
Add the ricotta, Parmigiano, egg, parsley, oregano, salt and pepper to the bowl with the beef and stir well to blend. Be sure that the meat is really well crumbled.

3.
Generously dust 2 baking sheets with flour. If rolling out the pasta by hand, cut it into long strips about 4 inches wide. If using a pasta machine, shape each portion of dough into a rectangle before running it through the rollers so its final width is about 4 inches. Place a pasta strip on the work surface. Cut it in half vertically. Set one strip aside. With the longest side of the remaining pasta strip parallel to the work surface, space scant teaspoons of the filling 1½ inches apart, about ½ inch from the bottom of the strip. Using a small pastry brush, paint beaten egg around all four sides of each portion of the filling. Top with the reserved pasta strip. Press firmly around each portion of filling, pressing out the air and adhering the two pasta strips to each other. Using a pizza wheel or fluted pastry cutter, cut around each portion of meat filling to make squares, or use a juice glass to make circles. (We’re doing this with cheese ravioli in these photos!) Transfer to the baking sheet and toss with the flour. Repeat with the remaining pasta and filling. (The ravioli can be prepared up to 8 hours ahead, covered loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerated.)