EXCLUSIVE

Teresa Giudice tip-toed on her curfew line and almost ended up with a probation violation ... lucky for her, a local cop recognized her mug.

Teresa made her first red carpet appearance in New Jersey Thursday night and left the party dangerously close to her 10 PM curfew. A source close to the Houswives star tells us she hopped into an Uber and asked the driver to speed home, but they got pulled over on the way.

Our source says as the driver was talking to the cops, Teresa chimed in from the back seat and explained her situation and that she was the one who told the driver to go faster.

We're told the cop immediately recognized who she was, agreed she'd already had a tough year and let her go.