Graffe Napoletane Recipes

PASTA NAPOLITANA

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium heat; drain and set aside. Discard drippings. In same pan, cook ground beef and sausage in olive oil until beef is no longer pink, breaking into crumbles. Add onion; cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain. Add tomato paste; cook and stir until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Stir in bacon, marinara sauce, broth, wine, mushrooms, pepperoni, sugar, garlic powder, oregano, basil, parsley, rosemary, marjoram, sage, seasoned salt, pepper, pepper flakes and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until thickened and flavors have combined, about 2 hours. Serve with spaghetti and Parmesan cheese.

MANICOTTI WITH ITALIAN SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large saucepot over medium heat. Cook the sausage, breaking it up into small pieces, until browned and caramelized, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the sausage to a paper towel-lined plate and reserve for the filling.
• Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the pot and cook the onion until softened and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute (the tomato paste will turn a deep maroon color). Add the crushed tomatoes, sugar, bay leaves, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and a pinch of black pepper. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to low and cook for 30 minutes. Melt the butter into the sauce, remove the bay leaves and stir in 1/3 cup of basil. Remove the sauce from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature, 40 minutes.
• For the filling: mix together the ricotta, reserved sausage, the remaining 1/3 cup basil, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, 1 1/2 cups Parmesan, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Fold in 1 cup of the cooled tomato sauce. Place the filling in a large piping bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the manicotti shells until they have softened slightly but still hold their tubular shape, 5 minutes.
• Pour half of the tomato sauce into a broiler-proof 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Fill each shell with the ricotta mixture. Place the filled shells in the baking dish. Pipe any extra filling along the ends of the shells in the dish. Top with the remaining tomato sauce and sprinkle the remaining 1 1/2 cups mozzarella and 1 cup Parmesan over the top. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake until the sauce begins to bubble, 40 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven, remove the foil and increase the oven to 425 degrees F. Put the manicotti back into the oven to bake until the cheese is browned and bubbling, about 10 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.

GRAFFE NAPOLETANE

Steps:

• Mix together the milk and yeast in a small bowl and set aside for a couple minutes.
• Mix together the flour, mashed potatoes, butter, limoncello if using, vanilla, salt, egg, lemon zest, the milk and yeast mixture and 1/4 cup of the sugar in a large bowl until it forms into a dough (it will be sticky at this point).
• Dump it onto a well-floured surface and knead until the dough comes together and is nice and smooth and no longer sticky (this might cause you to use a bit more flour than you might expect, so keep some on hand).
• Once your dough is ready, line a large baking sheet with a lint-free kitchen towel and sprinkle the towel lightly with flour.
• Cut little pieces (the size you cut depends on how big you want the doughnuts to be; I make them small, so I cut pieces as big as a golf ball) of the dough and roll each one out into a 6-inch rope, then pinch the ends together to form a circle. Place on the baking sheet, leaving a few inches of space between. Continue forming the rest and once you're all done, cover them with another kitchen towel and allow them to rise in a warm spot until they have doubled in volume, about an hour.
• Put the remaining 2 cups sugar in a baking dish. Pour enough oil into a large pot to come up the sides a few inches and heat until a deep-frying thermometer registers 350 degrees F. Drop about 4 doughnuts at a time in the oil and cook until golden brown, turning once, about a minute per side. Drain on a paper-towel lined plate, then immediately roll them in the sugar to coat. Repeat with the remaining doughnuts.
• Best when they are hot so dig in!