Read Fabulicious!: Teresa's Italian Family Cookbook for Free Online Page A

Boy     ***
    P eople always ask, so I’m gonna answer. What would I name a boy if I ever did (or do) have one? Franco. It’s my father-in-law’s name. Love, love, love it!

     

 
    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