I am a ravioli snob. Those frozen pasta squares filled with watery, flavorless cheese? That is not ravioli, not how I knew it anyway. I am a bit spoiled though in that regard. All I ever knew, growing up, was ravioli the way Nana made it, homemade pasta pillows stuffed with spinach, sausage, and three kinds of cheese. I don't recall Nana making anything else actually. Each time we visited, which was always on Easter, and sometimes Christmas or Thanksgiving, we were served ravioli, and eagerly looked forward to them.
It was a big production, making the ravioli. My Nana's house was messy at best, she was a bit of a clutter nut, but on ravioli making day, it looked ten times worse. Flour, and mountains of handcut ravioli were drying on towels everywhere, on all available surfaces. My grandfather even had a special door he brought in, no one knows where it came from but it appeared every year. He'd place it on top of two chairs, and make another work area.
And then, we'd sit down to eat. There was always a kids table and the adults table and platters of ravioli smothered in smooth sauce were set on both. The sauce was a simple one, just tomato puree that simmered with a big hunk of beef until the flavor was right. A sprinkle of parmesan cheese and we were ready to dig in.
This past January, my father proudly stated that our cousin Dana is now making the ravioli.
"She made them for Christmas, and did a great job. I bet she'd show you how, if you're interested."
I just smiled, and said I had the recipe, that I'd probably make them soon. I didn't add that I'd had the recipe for over ten years. Nana had been gone for longer than that. Shortly after she passed, I had the urge to make them one day, and had my Aunt Diane, who lives in Atlanta, GA, fax the recipe. But then, I got tired just looking at it, and think I ended up going out to dinner instead. I tucked the recipe away inside one of my oldest cookbooks, The Silver Palate New Basics. Over the years, I pulled it out every now and again when I thought about the ravioli, but always put it back. It's a big recipe, that makes hundreds of ravioli, and always seemed like too much of a project.
Until this year. When I got home from visiting my Dad, I looked at the recipe again. My aunt had actually updated it, by using a food processor, so it really wasn't that daunting. I took a closer look too at the ingredients, and smiled.
What had always seemed like such a mysterious, complicated dish, was really a mix of easy to find ingredients, with a bit of a retro flair. Instead of Italian sausage, my Nana used basic breakfast sausage, and American cheese. American cheeese! She would let it dry out for a few weeks in the refrigerator, and then grate it into a fine powder. This cheese, mixed with cream cheese, and parmesan is what made for such a unique flavor. I could do this. And I did. Though I must confess, I cheated a little the first time, and used fresh pasta sheets, rather than making my own, but next time, I'll do it all as is, and throw most of it in the freezer. These ravioli freeze beautifully, as does the sauce.
:) Enjoy!
Nana’s Ravioli
Filling
16 large eggs
3 8oz packages cream cheese—room temperature
36-44 breakfast sausages, she used Sunnyland brand, about 2 lbs—room temperature
3 10oz packages frozen chopped spinach
3 cups grated American cheese
½ pound grated parmesan cheese
Dry American cheese in refrigerator, unwrapped for 3 weeks, until dry and hard enough to grate. Squeeze water out of cooked, cooled spinach. Using a large food processor, chop the spinach well and set aside. Then process the sausage and set aside. In small batches, use the processor to mix the eggs, cream cheese, spinach and sausage. Turn each batch into a large mixing bowl, and then add the grated cheeses, cover, and let rest in the refrigerator overnight. The mix will be ‘wet’ but will dry and thicken overnight.
Sauce
2 large cans tomato puree
2 lbs chuck, in large pieces
2 medium onions
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
Saute chopped garlic and onions in olive oil over medium heat. Add chuck pieces and brown on both sides. Add puree and simmer for about two hours, covered, over low heat.
Pasta
2 large bags of all purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
5-6 cups warm water
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour and salt. Make a well in the middle and slowly add the water, a cup at a time, and blend in the flour, adding more or less water as necessary. Let the pasta dough rest for at least 30 minutes. Then turn out onto a floured work surface, and in small batches, run through a pasta machine until you have thin sheets of pasta. Spread the filling over the pasta, about 1/16 to 1/8 inch thick layer. Press another sheet on top, and using either a rolling pin with ravioli squares or a ravioli form, press down hard to form, cut and separate the raviolis. Let dry for at least an hour. Then cook in small batches, in boiling water until raviolis float to the surface, about 5 or 6 minutes.
Serve with sauce and additional grated cheese.
Makes about 8-10 dozen ravioli.