Teresa Giudice dishes on her Italian Christmas Eve dinner
Teresa Giudice has some big fish to fry.
The “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star upholds the Italian tradition of the Feast of the Seven Fishes at her Christmas Eve dinner table.
“I think I do more than seven fishes,” she told The Post. “I make the fish how my mom taught me.”
The Catholic custom of abstaining from meat before a holiday was brought to the US by immigrants from southern Italy. Many Italian-Americans like Giudice — whose parents were both born there — still observe the tradition.
The Paterson, N.J., native makes not one, but two versions of baccala, or salted cod.
“We do baccala in red sauce and baccala with olive oil and vinegar,” said Giudice, 50. She also puts together a seafood salad with octopus and shrimp.
The dinner would not be complete without a pasta course. “I put octopus in my red sauce for the main dish of our pasta,” she said.
The newlywed, who launched the weekly podcast “Namaste B$tches” in September, will host the holiday at her home and has invited her husband Luis Ruelas’ family.
Her daughters — Gia, 21, Gabriella, 18, Milania, 16, and Audriana, 13 — stay out of the kitchen, and as of now, do not help with the holiday meal prep.
“They haven’t yet,” said the mom of four, who is named after her maternal grandmother. “They set the table.”
The reality star-turned-actress is making her holiday movie debut in “Fuhgeddabout Christmas,” which premieres on VH1 on Dec. 21. The film was a labor of love for its Italian-American TV stars from New York and New Jersey, including Staten Island natives Renee Graziano of “Mob Wives” and “Jersey Shore’s” Vinny Guadagnino.
Rapper Justina Valentine, a Passaic County native who stars in VH1’s improv comedy series “Wild ‘n Out,” based the script about an Italian-American singer on her own life.
“It’s Justina’s story. I don’t want to give it away. You have to watch the movie,” said Giudice, who plays Valentine’s Guido Godmother. “Everyone’s gonna love it. You’re gonna laugh.”
Giudice, who recently competed on Season 31 of “Dancing with the Stars” alongside Guadagnino, said she never actually met him while working on the movie, but they connected on the dance show.
“Vinny commented on my Instagram post. He’s like, ‘We keep doing the same things together,’” she said.
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