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  • Italian

Hand-Rolled Pasta

Making fresh pasta at home is one of those elemental kitchen tasks that seems intimidating at first, but is really quite simple and deeply satisfying. It takes some time, but it isn’t difficult; the more you work with these doughs and make different shapes, the easier it gets. We’re going to focus our efforts on making different types of fresh, rustic dough, including whole wheat and semolina. In addition to this, we’ll practice techniques for making pasta shapes that don’t require a machine; in fact all you’ll need are your hands. We'll also walk through how to properly cook fresh pasta and introduce some simple sauces that work with just about any style, shape, or flavor of pasta.

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  • Italian

Regional Pizzas

Pizza styles can be as varied as the people who eat them (or make them), and in this course, we'll take a look at four unique styles of pizza from different regions of the United States: New England Bar Pizza, Detroit-Style Pizza, Chicago Thin-Crust Pizza, and St. Louis-Style Pizza. These different styles of pizza use different methods of mixing and handling dough, so you'll learn how simple tweaks to basic ingredients can affect the crumb and texture of a pizza crust. We will explore the beauty of no-cook tomato sauces and the ingredients you'll need in your pantry to make them. And we’ll share essential tips for improving your pizza game, no matter which style you make.

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  • Italian

Simple Pastas, Big Flavors

When you’re trying to pull together a quick meal, it is easy to the pantry and reach for dried pasta. But then what? Let's think beyond a jar of marinara and build some truly flavorful and unforgettable pasta dishes with just a few key ingredients that are probably already in your pantry - olive oil, garlic, canned beans, eggs, bacon, olives, and hard cheeses like Parmesan or Pecorino. In this course, we’ll show you how to use these and other powerful ingredients to make simple pasta dishes that pack big flavor.

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  • Italian

Pork Ragus

When you think of an Italian ragu, you might tend to think of a beefy Bolognese studded with tomatoes. While that's certainly one style of ragu, ragus can be made from virtually any cut of meat. In this course, we'll focus on ragus made with pork. Pork has a sweeter, more subtle flavor than beef or lamb, and we’ve developed sauces—with and without tomato—to highlight those flavors. We’ll show you which cuts of pork are made for ragus, and how to use their particular attributes to your advantage. You’ll also see how the careful development of fond can change the flavor of a dish, whether you’re simmering for 2 hours or 45 minutes. You can toss the ragus with ribbons of pasta or spoon them over gnocchi, polenta, or a piece of Italian bread. However you choose to serve them, these satisfying sauces are as versatile as they are delicious.

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  • Italian

Tuscan Pork Loin with Garlic and Rosemary

This classic pork roast from Tuscany is flavored throughout with heady garlic and rosemary. Our rendition includes a few innovations that might not be a part of traditional Italian recipes, but helps ensure delicious results: We use a bone-in roast, cut the meat off the rib bones, brown the meat, season it with a garlic-rosemary paste, and then tie the meat back onto the ribs, which serve as a sort of roasting rack that protects the meat as its cooks. At the outset, we brine the pork, which produces a succulent, well-seasoned roast. Because pork loin is best roasted in a moderately low oven (that won’t do much for surface browning), we sear the roast in a hot skillet before putting it into the oven. This way, the pork is sure to emerge with a deeply browned and crisped surface. Though not traditionally served, the ribs that were once attached to the roast are rich with flavor. If you’d like to serve them alongside slices of the roast or enjoy them for yourself, increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees, untie the roast and remove the loin as directed, then scrape off the excess garlic-rosemary paste from the ribs, set them on a rimmed baking sheet, and return them to the oven for about 20 minutes, until they are brown and crisp. Slice in between bones and serve.

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  • Italian

Ultimate Homemade Ravioli

This elegant dish has become a popular offering on Italian trattoria menus. It features a multitude of flavors—squashy, sweet, savory, buttery, herbal, and nutty—working together to create complexity, and contrasting textures—silky filling and pasta, crunchy nuts—to add interest. The butternut squash must first be cooked to drive off excess moisture and render it soft and velvety; we use a microwave to expedite and simplify the squash-cooking process. Grated Parmesan cheese in the filling not only adds flavor, it also acts as a binder that holds the filling together. The browned butter sauce is simple, but very rich. This dish is best served in small portions either as a first course or a pasta course before the main dish. This recipe uses fresh pasta from the Fresh Pasta recipe. If you haven't already done so, you'll need to make the fresh pasta. You will need a food processor and pasta machine in order to prepare the pasta. To be as efficient as possible, make the pasta dough, prepare the squash filling while the dough rests, then roll out the dough while the squash is in the refrigerator. By the time the dough has been rolled out into thin sheets, the filling will be cool enough to use.

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  • Italian

Easy Chicken Provençal

This recipe, Chicken Provençal, uses bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs browned in batches to give them good color and develop fond that will give deep, chickeny richness to the sauce. Next, aromatic vegetables are sautéed to coax out and concentrate their flavors, then flour for thickening and tomato paste are stirred in. Both wine and broth are poured into the pot to create the simmering liquid, but before the browned chicken thighs are added, you’ll be removing and discarding the skin. If left on, the skin turns soggy and limp, and is no fun to eat. This braise cooks for over an hour, so simmering takes place in a 300-degree oven.

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  • Italian

Classic Pasta Bolognese

Bolognese sauce, called ragù in Italian, is a meat sauce that hails from the city of Bologna in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. Although in America it is frequently a tomato-based meat sauce, traditionally it is a richly complex, silky-textured, and wonderfully elegant sauce paired with wide, flat pasta strands such as fettuccine. It is also used in the classic lasagna alla Bolognese. Although the cooking time for Bolognese sauce is long, the hands-on prep time is very brief. Technique and time are important to success here, so don’t be tempted to take shortcuts to speed up the process. We’ll teach you every step to the best bolognese recipe, plus how to avoid common mistakes when it comes to this Italian dish. Buon appetito!

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  • Italian

Authentic Ciabatta

“Ciabatta” means “slipper” in Italian, a reference to the bread’s longer, broad shape. It is one of the more popular Italian loaf breads in this country along with focaccia, and can often be found in a smaller form as ciabatta rolls. But how do you make it? Seasoned bakers make it look easy, turning out loaf after loaf of artisanal ciabatta with subtle tangy flavor, pleasantly chewy texture, and larger irregular air pockets that are just right for this style bread. However, with the very wet dough that is typical of ciabatta, home bakers often have trouble getting this recipe right. Our step-by-step video and photos will help you turn out perfect ciabatta, including forming the biga, the Italian version of a sponge that starts the ciabatta. We also share details on the equipment you’ll need, from a stand mixer to instant-read thermometer (yes, we do recommend temping bread!).

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  • Italian

Rustic Italian Bread

In Italy, rustic bread is seriously crusty, with a toothsome crumb and a clean, strong flavor. The most traditional loaf is shaped like a torpedo and contains just four ingredients—flour, water, yeast, and salt. This recipe relies on a biga (flour, water, and a little yeast) for flavor. Since the biga must ferment for 6 to 27 hours, this recipe is best made over two days. Once the biga has fallen, the remaining flour, water, and yeast are added, along with the salt. As the dough rises, it is folded (or turned) twice to build structure. The dough is shaped and baked on parchment paper for easy handling. You will need a baking stone as well as a water bottle to mist the dough with water before it goes into the oven. (The water helps promote a really thick crust.)

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  • Italian

Almost Hands-Free Risotto

Risotto is a classic rice dish from northern Italy. It’s well-loved for its lush, velvety texture and al dente rice grains; the medium-grain Italian rice that’s used to make risotto releases its plentiful starch during cooking and gives the appearance of being bathed in a creamy sauce. But the traditional cooking method requires at least 30 minutes of constant stirring. We developed an easier but still great-tasting risotto recipe that requires almost no stirring. Learn about the ingredients and equipment you’ll need to prepare this dish, as well as how to avoid mushy risotto or blown-out grains. And although it’s traditionally served as a first course or as a side dish to stews and braises, we added shredded chicken to this recipe so it is hearty enough to be served as a main dish.

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  • Italian

Beef Braised in Barolo

Beef Braised in Barolo is what results when the all-American pot roast goes abroad to study the classics in Italy. Barolo wine is made in the Piedmont region of northern Italy—an entire bottle goes into the pot as the braising liquid for this dish. Barolo is made from the Nebbiolo grape and is known for having big, bold flavor and full body—this robust character goes into the sauce of Beef Braised in Barolo and defines the dish. This braise uses a chuck-eye roast. The roast is divided into two pieces along its natural fat seams into smaller pieces that cook more quickly; separating the beef into pieces also allows you to remove some of the internal fat pockets. During braising, the pieces are turned every 45 minutes to prevent the surface from drying out. This dish is great with mashed potatoes, just as pot roast is, but if you would like to make an accompaniment that also hails from northern Italy, opt for Creamy Parmesan Polenta.

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