Fabulicious!: Teresa's Italian Family Cookbook (12 page)
Read Fabulicious!: Teresa's Italian Family Cookbook Online
Authors: Teresa Giudice
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Teresa’s Tip
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N
eed to save some time on the rolling and cutting? Try a ravioli press or mold: it looks like a flat, metal ice cube tray with fancy cutouts. You roll a large piece of dough over the whole thing, spoon filling into each space, add another sheet of dough, then smoosh closed with a rolling pin. Make sure you have enough flour on the press though, so the ravioli pop right out.
4.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Carefully add the ravioli and cook until they all float to the surface of the water, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain carefully in a colander.
5.
Place equal amounts of the ravioli in deep soup bowls, topping each with the tomato sauce, a dollop of ricotta, and a sprinkle of basil. Serve hot, with grated Parmigiano passed on the side.
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Juicy Bits from Joe
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S
ince so many recipes in here are named for actual people, you might think this one is in honor of Tre’s co-stars Caroline or Dina from
The Real Housewives of New Jersey
.
But it’s not. We call it “manzo” ravioli because that’s what it is: in Italian, “manzo” means “beef.” Fun fact, huh? But do me a favor and don’t call either of them “Mrs. Beef” next time you see them (although go ahead with Albie and Christopher . . .). And “Giudice”? It means “a judge” in Italian. I’m just sayin’ . . .
S
ince we’re on a make-it-yourself kick, I had to do a chapter on homemade Italian bread. Even if you’ve never tried to make bread before, you have to try these recipes—for the amazing way they will make your house smell alone!
I have no actual proof of this, but I would bet that Italian bread is the most popular bread on the planet. It’s so easy to make—just flour, yeast, salt, and water—and so moist and delicious. French bread is good, but it’s long, thin, and crusty (like a lot of the “Housewives” I know). A good Italian loaf is 18-inches long, 10-inches thick, and super porous. Technically, it’s because the yeast is allowed to give off lots of gas to create those spongy holes in the bread, but I’ll tell you from an eating standpoint, we make our bread that way because it’s best for soaking up juicy toppings like olive oil and tomatoes.
I’m going to give you my great-grandmother’s recipe for a Rustic Italian Loaf, plus a Fabulicious Focaccia, and a quick pizza crust dough recipe. Where’s the ciabatta recipe? Not here, since it’s not a traditional Italian bread. Believe it or not, ciabatta was invented as sort of a marketing gimmick in the 1980s. It was created in Italy, at least—by bread bakers who were upset that the French baguette was stealing all their business. So they came up with this funny, flat little loaf that’s way too thin for sandwiches, hard to cut, and looks nothing like the Italian word it was named for: a slipper. It’s good bread, sure, and the plan worked. But it’s just not in my family’s box of passed-down recipes.
My grandmother, nicknamed “Teresa,” with my mom in 1954.
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A Rosa By Any Other Name
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y mother, Antonia Campiglia Gorga, was raised by her grandmother (my great-grandma Rosa) because her father left when she was a baby (he went to Venezuela and never came back . . . bastard!), and her own mom (also named Rosa) died when my mom was only ten years old. A month later, her grandfather died in his bed of a broken heart for losing his only daughter. Because both my great-grandma and grandma were named “Rosa,” my grandmother’s nickname became “Teresa.” That’s who I was named after. My dad wanted to honor her because he never got to meet her.
If you saw us visiting my hometown in Italy on the
The Real Housewives of New Jersey,
you know Sala Consilina is a rustic town built right into the mountains. I bet there’s not an electric bread machine within a hundred miles! People (and not just Andy Cohen) always ask me how I have such great, muscular arms. I don’t lift weights. I lift babies and bake bread. Want an old-school Italian workout? The only kitchen utensils we use for making our bread is a wooden spoon and the hands God gave us. Work it, Sweetheart!
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Knead Me
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n case no one ever taught you how to “knead,” allow me. The trick is to dig into the dough with the heel of your hand, then push it away from you. Grab it back, flirt with it a little, fold it over, then shove it away again. (Somehow I knew you’d be good at this!)
Makes 2 loaves
2 (¼-ounce) packages (4½ teaspoons) instant or quick-rise yeast
2 cups cold tap water
5 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, as needed
2 teaspoons salt
Extra-virgin olive oil, for the bowl and baking sheet
1.
To make the bread by hand:
Combine the yeast with water in a large mixing bowl. Stir in 2 cups of flour and the salt. Gradually stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a dough that is too stiff to stir. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let stand for 10 minutes. Then, turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Knead, adding more of the flour as needed, until the dough is smooth, springy, and tacky to the touch, about 8 minutes. Do not add too much flour—as long as the dough isn’t sticking to your hands or the work surface, there is enough.
To make the dough with a heavy-duty stand mixer:
In the bowl of the mixer, combine the yeast with the cold water. Attach the bowl to the mixer and fit with the paddle attachment. With the machine on low speed, add 2 cups of flour and the salt. Gradually add enough of the remaining flour to make a dough that comes together and doesn’t stick to the bowl. Wrap the top of the bowl with a damp towel and let stand for 10 minutes. Then, remove the paddle attachment and attach the dough hook. Knead the dough on medium speed, adding more flour as needed, until the dough is soft, springy, and tacky to the touch, about 8 minutes. Do not add too much flour—as long as it doesn’t stick to the bowl, it has enough flour.
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Bread Butts
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E
ver wish you could do something with that extra bread “butt” that got too hard to eat instead of just throwing it away? You can cut the bread into cubes and freeze them in a freezer bag for up to six months. Once you have 6 cups of cubed bread, you have exactly what you need to cook up a batch of homemade croutons!
2.
Lightly oil a large bowl. Shape the dough into a ball. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat the dough with oil, leaving the dough smooth-side up. Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel. Let stand in a warm, draft-free place until the dough doubles in volume (it’s ready when you stick your finger an inch or so into the dough, and the indentation remains), about 1 ½ hours.
3.
Turn the dough back onto the floured surface and punch it (see why I’m such a good bread baker? Just kidding!) to get the air out. Then knead it for 2 minutes. Cut the dough in half, and form each into a ball. Place on the work surface and cover with the damp towel. Let stand for 10 minutes.
4.
Lightly oil a large baking sheet. One at a time, shape each portion of dough into whatever loaf shape you want: round, oval, or long. The thing to remember is to stretch the dough as you make the shape so the surface looks taut. Transfer the loaves to the baking sheet and cover with the damp towel. Let stand in a warm place until the dough doubles in volume, about 1 hour.
5.
Meanwhile, position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat thoroughly to 425°F. (The oven must be good and hot, so give it at least 20 minutes.)
6.
Uncover the loaves. Using a sharp, thin-bladed knife, cut a shallow X in the top of the round loaf or a couple of diagonal slashes in the top of an oval or long loaf. Dust the tops of the loaves with flour. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350°F. Continue baking until the loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when you tap them on the bottoms with your knuckles, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool for 20 minutes before slicing . . . if you can wait that long.
Makes 1 loaf
This is my favorite bread because it’s so delicious and juicy! Unlike the Rustic Italian Loaf, you kind of make focaccia in two parts: first you make a batter; then when you add flour to it, it becomes more of a dough. Traditionally, focaccia bread only has olive oil, rosemary, and coarse salt on top. You can add a million different things, though: cheese, olives, sautéed onions, garlic . . .