Fabulicious!: Teresa's Italian Family Cookbook (8 page)

BOOK: Fabulicious!: Teresa's Italian Family Cookbook

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2.
To make the lasagna sauce, heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the beef, onion, and garlic, and cook, stirring often and breaking up the meat with the side of the spoon, until the meat loses its raw look and the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.

3.
Add the tomato sauce, parsley, and oregano to the saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until slightly reduced, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

4.
To make the filling, beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add the ricotta, basil, ¾ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper, and mix well to blend.

5.
Add the lasagna noodles to the boiling water and cook according to the package directions until al dente. Do not overcook the noodles. Drain and rinse under cold water. Drain again, and pat dry with clean kitchen towels. Move ahead right away to the next step.

6.
Spread about ½ cup of the lasagna sauce in the bottom of the baking dish. Overlap 4 lasagna noodles in the dish. Spread half of the ricotta mixture over the noodles. Top with 1 cup of the mozzarella and ¼ cup of
the Parmigiano, then one-third of the lasagna sauce. Repeat with 4 lasagna noodles, the remaining ricotta mixture, 1 cup mozzarella, ¼ cup Parmigano, and half of the remaining sauce. Finish with the remaining noodles, sauce, mozzarella, and Parmigiano. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. (The lasagna can be prepared up to this point, covered and refrigerated, for up to 8 hours.)

7.
Place the baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake, covered, for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until the sauce is bubbling throughout, about 30 minutes more. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

***

Very Veggie Lasagna

***

Y
ou can make my delicious lasagna without any meat by doing it this way:

Omit the ground beef. Rinse, but do not dry, 12 ounces of fresh spinach. Place in a large saucepan. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until just tender, about 5 minutes. Drain in a wire sieve, rinse under cold water, and press hard on the spinach to remove the excess water. Coarsely chop the spinach. (If you insist, you can use a 10-ounce box of thawed frozen chopped spinach, squeezed dry, but the fresh spinach makes this dish.) Transfer to a bowl.

Heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 small zucchini, cut into ½-inch dice, and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned and tender, about 5 minutes. Add to the spinach.

Add 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil to the skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Add 1 large portobello mushroom, trimmed, cap and stem chopped into ½-inch dice, and cook, stirring often, until lightly browned, about 7 minutes. Transfer to the bowl with the spinach and zucchini.

Add the vegetable mixture to the tomato sauce with the parsley and oregano.

Audriana Giudice

It’s me, Audriana, and I’m only one year old . . . GIA! STOP TALKING FOR AUDRIANA! . . . Milania, Mom said I could! She can’t talk yet . . . THEN I WANT TO TALK FOR HER! NOT YOU! . . . Mom said
I
could. Go ask her . . . M-O-O-O-M!!! . . .

Now that Milania’s gone, I’m going to tell you what Audriana likes to eat the best. She’s still little, so she likes things all mashed up. Mom said her favorite is Creamy Polenta. You like polenta, don’t you, Audriana? Yes you do, you’re so cute. Fabulous! Fabulous! I’m coming, Mom, I’m coming! Geez!

P.S.
A lot of people think polenta is a kind of pasta, but really it’s cornmeal. Polenta is great with stew, meat, or all by itself. And babies love it!

Audriana’s Creamy Polenta

Makes 4 servings

Hi, it’s me Gabriella. Don’t tell Gia I’m telling you this, but you can make polenta ahead of time then put it in the frigerator. Later, you heat it back up in the microwave for 5 minutes. Mom lets me fluff it with a fork then, but you have to be careful not to burn yourself. Ok, I’ll talk to you later . . .

4 cups canned reduced-sodium chicken or vegetable broth

1 cup coarsely ground polenta or stone-ground yellow cornmeal

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Salt

1.
Bring 2½ cups of the broth to a boil in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan over medium heat.

2.
Whisk the cornmeal into the remaining 1 ½ cups of broth in a small bowl. Whisk this mixture into the saucepan and return to the boil, whisking constantly. Whisk in the butter. Reduce the heat to low. Simmer, whisking often, until the polenta is thick and creamy, 30 to 40 minutes. (The coarser the grind, the longer the polenta will take to cook.) If the polenta gets too thick, whisk in some hot water. Season with salt.

M
ORE
K
ID
-F
RIENDLY
F
AVORITES

Alright, the girls are doing their chores now—Gia has to empty the dishwasher, Gabriella sweeps the floor, and Milania wipes the table off—so I’m back. Before we head into the next chapter, I wanted to give you two more quick, easy, and cheap meals that are perfect for moms on the go. Like me, like you . . . Really, is there a mom on earth that isn’t constantly running somewhere?

Stella Pastina

Makes 4 servings

Stella
means “star” in Italian, and
pastina
is “little pasta.” I know you’ve seen the tiny star pasta in the grocery store and loved it but wondered what to do with it. I’ll tell you! This is a really easy, flexible dish. You can leave it wet and serve it as a soup, or drain the broth for a creamy pasta dish. Any shape of dried tiny pastina pasta is fine, but my girls like stars the best (sometimes labeled
stelline
in the store), and they cook the quickest. This is a great meal to make with leftover chicken, but you can add any other meat or vegetables that you have on hand. If you don’t have Italian cheese, you can use American cheese slices in a pinch.