Ravioli with Tomato Gravy

Tomato Gravy may be used as a sauce for spaghetti either with or without ground beef.

Tomato Gravy
1 1/2 cups olive oil
5 pounds pork neck bones
3 pounds or 5 large onions
1 whole pod garlic
1 small rib celery with leaves
2 (28 ounce) cans tomatoes
2 cans water
3 tablespoons oregano leaves
4 tablespoons basil leaves
1 (4 ounce) bottle Kitchen Bouquet?
1 (12 ounce) can tomato paste
20 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
Salt and pepper

Put olive oil in large kettle to heat. Add neck bones to brown. Add onions, garlic and celery to saut?. Mash tomatoes with hands. Add to kettle; then add seasonings, Kitchen Bouquet?, tomato paste and tomato sauce. Rinse cans and add water, not to exceed 2 sauce cans full. Salt and pepper to taste and let simmer for 5 to 6 hours. Yields 12 quarts.

Ravioli Filling
6 pounds pork butt, ground
2 tablespoons salt
Pepper, to taste
1 clove garlic
10 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups olive oil
30 ounces Romano cheese
1/2 pound crackers, finely crushed
6 (10 ounce) packages chopped frozen
    spinach, cooked and squeezed
3 tablespoons parsley flakes

Brown pork with salt and pepper. Add garlic while cooking gently over low heat. Beat eggs in large container. Add olive oil, cheese and crackers, blending well. Add spinach and blend. Put meat mixture into egg mixture. Add parsley. Mix well with hands. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Ravioli Dough
4 cups flour, sifted
1 tablespoon salt
1 egg
1 cup water

Sift together flour and salt. Make a little well and put egg in with a little water. With your hand, begin to mix adding a little water at a time. When thoroughly mixed, put on smooth surface and knead until dough is smooth, easy to handle and quite elastic. With a rolling pin or dough stick roll out very very thin. This takes time and flour must be added as rolled to keep dough from sticking. When dough feels like a chamois, place balls of filling (about 1 tablespoon) onto the dough about 1 inch apart. Roll dough over filling and seal by pressing dough with fingers. Press firmly between balls of filling with side of hand, making sure all air is out of ravioli pocket. Cut into squares with serrated wheel. Dust with flour. Seal individually in foil to freeze.

To serve, drop ravioli in boiling salted water to which a few drops of oil have been added. Let cook at a slow boil 12 to 15 minutes and lift out gently with a slotted spoon. Pour small amount of sauce on plate.

Place 2 to 4 ravioli on plate and top with additional sauce. Sprinkle generously with Romano cheese.

Yields 15 to 20 servings.

Ravioli with Artichoke Sauce

1 (25 ounce) package frozen beef or chicken ravioli
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 2/3 cup milk
3/4 cup shredded Gruyere, Swiss provolone or mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons dry white wine or milk
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
1/4 cup pine nuts or slivered almonds, toasted
Chopped parsley (optional)

Prepare ravioli according to package directions.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, cook mushrooms and garlic in hot oil until mushroom are tender.

Stir in flour. Add milk; cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Add cheese and wine; heat and stir until cheese is melted.

Add artichoke hearts and pine nuts; heat through. Serve sauce over prepared ravioli. Garnish with chopped parsley, if desired.

Rancho Pasta

1 pound angel hair pasta
Enchilada sauce, simmered until very thick
1/2 cup feta cheese, grated

Cook the pasta until it is al dente. Top with sauce, then sprinkle on the cheese.

Serves 4.

Popeye Noodles

2 cups whole milk
2 cups egg noodles
1/4 teaspoon salt, or more, to taste
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons chopped onion
10 to 12 ounces fresh spinach, chopped
Generous grind of black pepper
Pinch of nutmeg

Place milk, noodles, salt and butter in a large, heavy saucepan. Over low heat, cook noodles in milk, stirring occasionally, until they are softened and the milk has been almost completely absorbed. The noodles should be very soft and creamy in texture.

In a skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook briefly until it is softened. Stir in the spinach, and cook it until all the leaves are wilted. Mix the spinach into the noodles and heat through, sprinkling in the pepper and nutmeg at the end.

Pastitsio (Baked Macaroni ? Greek)

1 pound macaroni
1/4 pound butter
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey or beef
1/2 can tomato paste
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Salt and pepper

Sauce
4 cups warm milk
5 eggs
6 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter

Cook macaroni (but not well done) in boiling, salted water and drain. Saut? onion in a little butter. Add ground meat and stir until brown. Add tomato paste, thinned with a little water. Add salt, pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cook until meat is done.

Melt butter; pour over drained macaroni, mixing carefully. Spread half of the macaroni on the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch pan. Sprinkle half of the grated cheese on top. Spread entire meat mixture on top. Cover with remaining macaroni and remaining grated cheese.

For the Sauce, boil 3 cups of the milk with 3/4 cup butter. Add flour to remaining 1 cup milk and blend well. Add flour mixture to boiling butter and milk. Thicken and cool.

After this has cooled, add 5 beaten eggs, or drop small amounts of the milk mixture into the eggs while stirring constantly. Once the egg mixture gets warm to hot, add the remaining milk. Pour sauce over the macaroni. Shake the pan and insert a knife to penetrate thoroughly. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 to 45 minutes.

Pasta with Yogurt Sauce

8 ounces green noodles
2 (8 ounce) cartons plain yogurt (at room temperature)
1 cup small curd cottage cheese (at room temperature)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped scallions
1/2 to 1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh dill weed
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano or
    1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons butter

Cook noodles according to direction on package, drain and keep hot.

Combine yogurt, cottage cheese, onion, garlic and seasonings. Pur?e in a blender or food processor. Heat slightly. Toss noodles with butter and then with yogurt-cheese mixture.

Serve immediately.

Pasta with Sage Sauce

1/2 cup light cream
1/2 teaspoon sage
1/2 cup butter
1 small bunch broccoli, florets only
1 (8 ounce) package pasta
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Ground pepper, to taste
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Heat cream with sage over low heat to reduce liquid slightly, about 5 minutes. Add butter. When melted, add broccoli. Cover and cook.

While preparing broccoli, cook pasta until al dente. Drain and immediately toss with sauce, 1/2 cup Parmesan and pepper. Pass remaining Parmesan cheese.