Buon appetito! Enjoy some of my favorite tasty and authentic Italian takeout recipes.

Homemade Toasted Ravioli

Serves 6-8 | Prep. time 30 minutes | Cooking time 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 (16-ounce) package beef ravioli, fresh or thawed
• 2 cups flour
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• ¼ cup water
• 2 cups Italian bread crumbs
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• Vegetable oil, for deep frying
• Marinara sauce for dipping

Directions

1. Preheat a deep fryer to 350°F.
2. In a bowl, whisk the eggs and water together.
3. In another bowl, combine the bread crumbs and garlic salt.
4. Dip the thawed ravioli in flour, then the egg mixture, and then coat them thickly with bread crumbs. Dip in the egg again, if needed, to coat evenly.
5. Place the coated ravioli on a sheet of aluminum or tray.
6. Fry the ravioli, a few at a time, until golden brown (about 1 minute).
7. Drain on paper towels, and serve with marinara sauce.

 

 

Creamy Mushrooms Risotto

Serves 2 | Prep. time 5 minutes | Cooking time 30-35 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• ½ small onion, chopped
• ½ cup Portobello mushrooms, sliced
• ¾ cup Arborio rice
• ¼ cup dry white wine
• ¼ cup Parmesan, finely grated
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Pour the broth into a medium saucepan, and bring it to a simmer.
2. Reduce the heat to low, to keep the broth hot.
3. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat.
4. Sauté the onion and mushrooms until tender (about 3 minutes). Remove mushrooms and set them aside.
5. Add the rice and mix well.
6. Add the wine and simmer until almost dry (about 1 minute).
7. Add half a cup of hot broth and cook, with stirring, until it is absorbed by the rice (about 2 minutes). Repeat half a cup at a time.
8. Allow complete absorption before adding more broth. The rice should be creamy in consistency, but the grains should be tender yet firm to the bite (about 20 minutes).
9. Turn off the heat and stir in the remaining butter, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and mushrooms.

 

 

Garlic Knots

Serves 24 | Prep. time 45 minutes plus 2 hours proofing time | Cooking time 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 recipe Basic Pizza Dough
• ½ cup unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
• ¼ cup grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Prepare a batch of Basic Pizza Dough and set it aside to rise.
2. Cook the garlic in the butter in a small saucepan over low heat until fragrant (about 3 minutes).
3. Cover, remove the saucepan from the heat, and set it aside, keeping it warm.
4. Preheat the oven to 375°F, and grease 2 large baking sheets. Set them aside.
5. Place the risen dough on a lightly floured surface.
6. Roll the dough out using a floured rolling pin. Shape it into a rectangle, about 16×12 inches.
7. Brush the dough with olive oil.
8. Cut the dough in half lengthwise.
9. Cut the dough crosswise into 1 ¼-inch strips.
10. Tie each strip loosely into a knot, and place them on the prepared baking sheets, leaving a 2-inch space in between. Sprinkle the tops of the knots with salt.
11. Cover with a towel and let them rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes.
12. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
13. Meanwhile, add the cheese and parsley to the warm butter mixture and mix well.
14. Coat the newly baked knots in the cheese-and-butter mixture, and serve warm.

 

 

Fettuccini Carbonara

Serves 6 | Prep. time 10 minutes | Cooking time 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 shallots, peeled and diced
• 1 large onion, peeled and sliced
• 1 pound bacon, cut into strips
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 (16-ounce) packet fettuccine, cooked according to packaging instructions
• 3 egg yolks
• ½ cup cream
• ¾ cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Drain the fettuccine and place it in a serving dish or bowl. Set it aside.
2. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil and sauté the shallots over medium heat until the shallots are softened.
3. Add the onion and bacon.
4. When the bacon is just beginning to brown, stir the garlic and remove the pot from the heat.
5. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, cream, and Parmesan together in a bowl.
6. Pour the bacon mixture over the pasta.
7. Add the cream mixture, salt, and pepper, and stir.

 

 

Italian Spicy Sausage and Mushrooms Pizza

Serves 6 | Prep. time 10 minutes plus 15 minutes resting time for dough | Cooking time 25-30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 pound refrigerated ready-made or homemade pizza dough
• Cooking spray
• 6 ounces spicy Italian sausage (1 large sausage)
• 1 cup onion, thinly sliced
• 1 (8-ounce) package mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup red or green bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 tablespoon yellow cornmeal, or more, for dusting
• ½ cup pizza sauce or all-purpose tomato sauce
• ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• ¼ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Directions

1. Rest the refrigerated dough for 15 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
3. Remove the sausage from the casing and cook it in a nonstick skillet until it crumbles (about 3 minutes). Break it up with your spatula as it cooks.
4. Add the onions and mushrooms and sauté until tender (about 4 minutes).
5. Add the bell pepper and sauté until fragrant (about 3 minutes).
6. Dust the work surface with cornmeal.
7. Pat and stretch the dough gently and place it on the dusted surface.
8. Press it down and spread it with your hands, and then roll it out with a dusted rolling pin to make a 12-inch round.
9. Place the dough on the pizza pan, stretching and shaping it with your hands if needed.
10. Pour the pizza sauce into the center of the dough and spread it to the sides, leaving about half an inch from the edge without sauce.
11. Spread with the sausage and vegetable mixture.
12. Top with mozzarella and then with Parmesan.
13. Bake until the cheese is golden brown and bubbly (about 15-20 minutes).

 

 

Homemade Cannoli

Serves 12-25 | Prep. time 20 minutes plus 2 hours of refrigeration | Cooking time 10-15 minutes

Ingredients

• Egg white, for sealing
• Oil for frying, 3 inches deep

Cannoli shell

• 2 ⅓ cups flour
• 1 ½ tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 egg
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup Marsala dry wine

Cream Filling

• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 2 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
• 2 tablespoons rum
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 ounces bitter chocolate, broken into tiny chips

Directions

To make the shells

1. In a large bowl, mix the shell ingredients together to make a smooth, slightly sticky dough.
2. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours to overnight.
3. Cut the dough into two pieces. Keep the remaining dough covered and cold while you work.
4. Lightly flour a work surface and roll out the dough to about ⅛ inch thick.
5. Cut out circles 3 to 5 inches in diameter.
6. Roll each cut-out circle into an oval.
7. Oil the outside of the cannoli tubes. You can also use cannelloni pasta as tubes.
8. Roll the ovals around each tube and dab a little egg white on the dough where the edges overlap. Press well to seal. Let them sit for the egg white to set.
9. In a heavy saucepan or electric deep-fryer, heat the oil to 375°F, or until a small piece of the dough sizzles and browns in 1 minute.
10. Fry the shells until golden, turning halfway through (about 2 minutes).
11. Lift with a wire skimmer or large slotted spoon. Using tongs, grasp the cannoli vertically over the fryer to let the oil flow back into the pan.
12. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with the remaining tubes.
13. While still hot, grasp the tubes with a potholder and, using a pair of tongs, pull the cannoli shells off.
14. Let cool completely on the paper towels.

For the filling

15. In a large bowl, cream the ricotta with a wire whisk.
16. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly.
17. Fill a pastry tube, and pipe the filling into the shells.
18. Dust with confectioner’s sugar, and serve.

 

 

 

***These recipes and more can be found in Lina Chang’s Italian Takeout Cookbook: Easy Italian Recipes to Make at Home, Including Pizza and Pasta. To get your copy, click on the cover or click here.

To download a copy of the featured recipes, click here.