Best-selling cookbook author and restaurateur Lidia Bastianich is joining TODAY to share a few of her favorite Italian recipes from her new cookbook, "Felidia: Recipes from My Flagship Restaurant." She shows us how to make red wine braised short ribs, mashed potatoes with olive oil and homemade pasta with bacon-infused tomato sauce.
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This is my spin on a typical dish from Piedmont. Usually in Italy, braised meat is taken from a leg of veal or beef. Since short ribs are not often used there, this recipe involves an American cut of meat with an Italian sauce. The ribs are moist and familiar to U.S. diners, and I often serve them with mashed potatoes or polenta. In Piedmont, we use Barolo wine, but this dish can be made with any hearty red wine of your choice; just remember, a dish is the sum of all its parts.
Who doesn't like mashed potatoes? Of course, we love them, but everyone wants to be careful about adding too much butter. So, try making it the way my nonna used to make it in Italy — with olive oil, or with garlic and olive oil. It's healthier and still a favorite at our table.
This is a classic dish from Rome that none of my grandkids can resist. The Felidia guests love it as well! Amatriciana usually contains guanciale, or jowl bacon, and tomato, which is very flavorful and traditional in the Italian rendition of this recipe. Here, I use onion, celery, and carrots with bacon instead.
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