1 T cooking oil
1 onion, chopped
1 pound ground beef
2 cups canned chopped tomatoes, drained (from one 28-ounce can)
1 1/2 t salt
1/2 cup pesto sauce, store-bought or homemade
3/4 pound medium pasta shells
6 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Oil a large baking dish (about 9 by 13 inches). In a large stainless-steel frying pan, heat the oil over moderately low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until starting to soften, about 3 minutes. Stir in the ground beef and cook, breaking it up, until the meat is no longer pink, about 2 minutes. Drain off any excess fat. Add the tomatoes and salt to the pan and bring to a simmer. Cook until most of the liquid evaporates, about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the pesto. Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the shells until just done, about 10 minutes. Drain and toss with the sauce. Put half of the pasta into the prepared baking dish and top with half the mozzarella and 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan. Repeat with the remaining pasta, mozzarella, and Parmesan. Bake until bubbling, about 15 minutes.

1-1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 T olive oil
1 12-oz. can Italian plum tomatoes
18-oz. can tomato sauce
16-oz. can tomato paste
2 T minced fresh parsley
1 t Italian seasoning
salt and freshly-ground pepper to taste
1-1/2 cups water
2 cups sliced zucchini

LASAGNA:

12 ozs. lasagna noodles
1 lb. ricotta cheese
1 egg (optional)
1 10-oz. pkg chopped, frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1-1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Sauce:

Saute the mushrooms, celery, green pepper, onion, and garlic in the oil for about 5 minutes in a large stockpot. Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, seasonings, and 1 cup of the water. Simmer covered for about an hour. Add the remaining water, and simmer 15 minutes longer. When the sauce is finished simmering, add the zucchini. Sauce can be made ahead of time.

Lasagna:

Cook the noodles in boiling, salted water. While cooking, mix together the ricotta, egg (if using), and spinach. Grease 9"x13" baking dish and layer ingredients as follows: On the bottom, put 1/3 of the noodles, cover with 1/3 of the sauce, 1/2 of the ricotta-spinach mix, and 1/3 of the Cheddar. Repeat layers. Top with the remaining noodles and sauce. Sprinkle with remaining Cheddar and all of the Parmesan. Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 45 to 60 minutes, or until bubbly and slightly browned around the edges. Makes 12 servings.

1 lb Italian sausage or ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, pressed
16 oz canned whole tomatoes
15 oz tomato sauce
2 T dried parsley flakes
1 t sugar
1 t dried basil
1/2 t salt
9 lasagna noodles, uncooked
16 oz ricotta cheese or cottage cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 T dried parsley flakes
1 1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t dried oregano
8 oz mozzarella cheese, grated
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Cook and stir Italian sausage, onion and garlic in 10" skillet until sausage is light brown; drain. Add tomatoes with liquid, tomato sauce, 2 T parsley, the sugar, basil and 1/2 t salt. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered until mixture is consistence of thick spaghetti sauce, about 1 hour. Cook noodles as directed. Reserve 1/2 cup of the sauce mixture. Mix ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, 1 T parsley, 1 1/2 t salt and the oregano. Layer 1/3 each of the noodles, remaining sauce mixture, mozzarella cheese and ricotta cheese mixture in ungreased 9 X 13" pan. Repeat 2 times. Spoon reserved sauce mixture onto top; sprinkle with 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Cook uncovered in 350° oven 45 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting. 8 to 10 servings.

Tomatoe Sauce:

Chop large onion, garlic and parsley fine and fry slightly in the hot olive or salad oil. Add the tomatoes, tomatoe paste, bay leaves, salt, pepper, water and stir until well mixed. Then toss in the ground beef, breaking it up in little pieces with a fork or spoon. Now cover the tomatoe sauce and cook over a low heat for 45 minutes, giving it an occasional stir.

Cheese Sauce:

Chop small onion fine and cook it in the melted butter, margarine or shortening a minute or two. Mix in the flour until smooth, add grated parmesan cheese and a dash of salt. Gradually stir in the milk and continue cooking over a low eat, stirring constantly, until sauce is thick as heavy cream. Beat the egg yolks slightly, mix in a little hot cheese mixture slowly (to prevent sauce from curdling). Then mix all cheese mixture and yolks together and cook over low heat for 10 minutes longer. Remove from fire.

Lasagne Noodles:

Cook as directed on the package until tender then drain. Preheat oven to 325º and grease a large baking dish. Put a layer of noodles on the bottom of baking dish, pour over enough tomatoe sauce to cover noodles and add some of the cheese sauce to this. Continue with these layers until ingredients are all used. Finish off the dish with a covering of cheese sauce. Bake 20 minutes then set your oven to broil and broil lasagne until surface is a bubbly gold. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Add pasta to boiling water. Cook for 10 minutes. Drain and rinse. Set aside. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and garlic and cook until just soft. Whisk in the cream and heat. Slowly whisk in the cheese until melted. Stir in the bacon and peas (if used). Remove from the heat. Whisk in the yolk. Return to the heat and cook briefly while stirring. Toss in the pasta and heat. Pepper to taste. Serve warm. Serves 2 to 3.

Pre-heat the oven to 450. Marinate the tomatoes in the olive oil and garlic for 20 minutes. Brush the crust with oil. Top with the mozzarella. Top with the tomatoes. Bake for 10-12 minutes (or until the crust begins to brown). Remove from the oven. Top with the basil and Parmesan. Allow to rest for three minutes before slicing. Serves 3 - 4.

Pasta:

3 cups flour
2 eggs
2 T butter
1 cup warm water
1/4 t salt

Mix flour and salt together in a mixing bowl. Add eggs and butter; mix. Gradually add water to make a rather stiff dough. (Depending on humidity, will depend on amount of water used.) Knead until smooth. Cover and let stand about 10 minutes. Cut in half. Roll on lightly floured board till very thin.

Cut cheese into squares, about 1" square. Place on one prepared pasta. Carefully cover with 2nd piece of pasta. Shape around cheese. Cut into squares just slghtly larger than cheese. Press around the edges of each square with a fork. (May also fill with seasoned italian sausage instead of cheese.) Place about 6 to 8 qts of salted water in deep pot; bring to boil. When rapidly boiling, cook ravioli for about 10 minutes or until the pasta is tender. Remove carefully with a soup skimmer. Serve with sauce.

Cook the pasta, drain, and rinse with cold water. Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly oil a two-quart casserole dish. Place 1/2 the pasta in the bottom, top with 1/2 the sauce, 1/2 the cheese, and 1/2 the crumbs. Repeat. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the top is lightly browned. Serve warm. Add cooked ground beef or Italian sausage to create a heartier entree. Serves 4.

Boil chicken. Cook spaghetti in the broth. After spaghetti cooks, retain the broth for later. Saute onions and celery in margarine. Mix together soups, Rotel, olives and peas. Heat until warm. Add onions, celery, spaghetti and chicken. If the mixture is too thick, add some of the chicken broth. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 45 minutes. Remove cover and top with grated cheese. Place in oven until cheese is melted. Can freeze before baking.

3/4 lb ground beef
1/2 lb fresh pork
1/4 lb veal
3 slices whole wheat bread
1/2 cup milk or meat stock
1 medium onion
1 large clove garlic
1/2 green pepper
fistful parsley sprigs
rind of 1/2 lemon
2 eggs
1 t salt
1 t pepper
pinch of cloves and nutmeg
2 bay leaves

First prepare the meatballs. Have your butcher grind the three kinds of meat together twice. Now soak the bread in milk or meat stock for about 5 minutes (be sure to use whole wheat bread since white bread becomes too gluey). While bread soaks, chop onion, garlic, green pepper and parsley all very fine and grate the lemon, even grating in some of the white pulp. Put meat in a very large mixing bowl, squeeze liquid from bread, add bread, chopped vegetables, eggs and all seasonings except bay leaves to the meat. Mix together thoroughly, cover and let stand at least an hour for all the flavors to develop. (Can make the day before.) After mixture has mellowed, shape 12 large meatballs, about 3" in diameter (smaller ones tend to dry out during baking). Grease the bottom of a roasting pan with olive or salad oil, toss in bay leaves and carefuly place meatballs in pan. Bake in a 450 degree oven or hot oven for 15 minutes, then brush them with a little olive or salad oil and bake another 15 minutes.

Sauce:

1/4 lb. pork
1/2 lb. beef, round or pot roast
1 clove garlic
fistful parsley sprigs
1/4 cup white wine
salt and pepper
1/4 t basil
1 # 2 1/2 can tomatoes or 1 1/2 lb. fresh tomatoes
1 - 4 oz. can tomato paste
1/2 cup water
1 lb pkg spaghetti
1/2 cup grated romano, locatelli or parmesan style cheese

Chop salt pork in little pieces, beef in good size chunks, garlic and parsley as fine as possible (but keep them in separate piles since they are added at different times). Now fry the salt pork and garlic until nicely browned, add the beef and brown it too. Pour in the wine and let the mixture cook very gently for 10 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, parsley and basil. Stir in the tomatoes (if fresh tomatoes are used, peel them first and quarter), tomato paste and water and cook for 30 minutes. Finally add the roasted meatballs to the sauce and cook over a medium heat for 1 hour or longer, stirring occasionally. Come dinnertime, lift meatballs from the sauce onto hot platter and in a separate serving dish pour the delicious sauce over cooked, well drained spaghetti. Sprinkle with cheese. Serves 6.

TOSS cooked spaghett, parmesan cheese and egg. Place on 9" pie plate (I used a 10" plate). Press along bottom and sides to form crust.

MIX cooked meat and spaghetti sause. Spread meat mixture over spaghetti crust. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

BAKE at 350 for 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting into wedges. Makes 8 servings.

EXTRA: Spoon additional heated spaghetti sauce on serving plate. Top with slice of spaghetti pizza pie.

1/2 pound Tortellini, frozen (or dried), cheese filled
1 cup Mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon Garlic, minced
2 teaspoon Basil, chopped
1/4 cup Sun-dried tomatoes, re-hydrated and pureed
1/4 cup Parmesan, grated

Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside. Place the tomatoes in a bowl and cover with hot water. Allow to soak for 20 minutes. Drain off all but 2 tablespoons of water and place in a food processor. Puree. Whisk together the mayonnaise, basil, garlic, and pureed tomatoes. Toss in the pasta. Chill at least 2 hours. Garnish with Parmesan.