Ravioli

The recipe is divided into three parts: filling, pastry, and sauce. All three parts could be made up to two days prior to assembling the ravioli. This is the original size batch, but I always double it. The raviolis and sauce both freeze well and make a quick and delicious dinner any time. (Note about doubling: the pastry needs to be made as two single batches. If it is doubled all at once it doesn’t come out correctly.) Butter can be used in place of margarine, but this is one recipe that is actually better with margarine (and this is from someone who prefers butter hands down).

Sauce

3/4 stick margarine

1 lb. ground chuck

1 tsp. beef flavored soup base (or bouillon cube)

Garlic Salt

1 small can of tomato paste

water

1 Tbs. French’s Chili-O seasoning mix (in a packet)

14 oz. jar of Ragu with Meat (optional)

Melt margarine in pot. Brown ground chuck in margarine and add garlic salt to taste. After meat is browned add beef flavored soup base (or bouillon cube). Add tomato paste and three can-fulls of water. Add French’s Chili-O seasoning and cook on warm for at least 1 1/2 hours. Optional: Add Ragu to increase the amount of sauce. (I recommend this otherwise the sauce is gone before the raviolis are!)

Meat Mixture

3/4 stick margarine

2 lbs. ground chuck

1 tsp. beef flavored soup base (can use bouillon cube instead)

2 large eggs

1/2 c. grated Parmesan and Romano cheese (1/4 c. of each)

1 1/2 stacks of crushed Saltine crackers

Garlic Salt

Salt

Pepper

Melt margarine in large pan. Brown ground chuck in the margarine. Add garlic salt, salt and pepper to taste. After browned, add beef flavored soup base (or bouillon cube). Remove mixture from pan into a large bowl. Let cool slightly and then add eggs and mix. Add Parmesan and Romano cheeses and crushed Saltine crackers. (To crush Saltines, I put them in a Ziplock bag and roll a rolling pin over them. They should be crushed to the consistency of a fine powder.) Mix well. At this point you should be able to form small balls. If not, add more crushed Saltines in small amounts until you can. This mixture can be refrigerated until used (it is easier to work with when cold).

Pastry

5 large eggs

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 c. water

1 stick margarine (melted)

4 1/2 c. flour

Additional flour as needed

Mix first three ingredients and then slowly add melted margarine while mixing. Add 4 1/2 cups of flour and mix. Add enough flour with hands until smooth and elastic. Refrigerate until needed. The dough is easier to work with when chilled.

Assembly Instructions

Break off a piece of pastry (about the size of a large handful) and roll thin. I use a pasta maker for this but it can be rolled by hand. Roll the meat mixture into balls (no bigger than 1 inch in diameter) and place on rolled out pastry about an inch apart on one half of the pastry. Fold the other half of the pastry over the meat and press down around each meatball to remove excess air. Cut with a pastry wheel around each ball leaving about 1/2 inch excess pastry around each ball.

Place ravioli on cookie sheets to freeze. When frozen, place in Ziplock freezer bags (about 20 ravioli per bag) and store in freezer. To cook, place frozen ravioli in boiling water and boil gently for 20 minutes. Serve with sauce and freshly grated Mozzarella cheese.

Cheesecake

This is the recipe I take to most potluck dinners. There are never any leftovers!

Beat until smooth and set aside:

3 eggs

3/4 c. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Beat two large and one small Philadelphia cream cheese packages (a total of 20 oz.) well and then add above egg mixture, beating until smooth.

Make a graham cracker crust (I use the recipe on the graham cracker crumb box) and press into an angel food cake pan. Pour the above mixture on top of the crust.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. Turn oven off but leave cake in the oven for another 20 minutes. Remove cake from oven.

Mix 16 oz. sour cream with 2 Tablespoons of sugar. Spread over hot cake and return to a 475 degree oven for 5 minutes. Cool about 30 minutes and then refrigerate. Do not cut until completely chilled (about 6 hours).