Grandma Eleanor’s Beef & Spinach Ravioli

So today is the day that we introduce the newest members of our family to our family tradition of making homemade ravioli. This year my niece AND nephew each got married! What a crazy year for my sister and her husband as their busy household welcomed two new members and experienced the hustle and bustle of dating and marriage. Only to be followed up with the quiet days of being (almost) empty nesters. They still have one lovely teenage daughter at home.

I’ve been looking forward to this day since I have arrived back home to California after a year and a half in Italy. While there, I learned how to make the Italian version of Ricotta & Spinach Ravioli (you can read that experience of the “old world” versus the “new” in a previous article by clicking on the link).

But now it’s time to make our families version, which I have to say, I’m pretty proud of. My grandma and grandpa used to come over once a year to help us make ravioli. The old 1970’s Kitchenaid was pulled out of the deep storage cabinets in the garage as well as the ravioli rolling pin and the age old meat grinder.

Grandma would yell at grandpa and he would belly laugh, I can still see his laughing face and hear his laugh. She would tell us to keep rolling the dough because it was not thin enough as she lifted a corner to feel its weight in her skilled hands. My dad would grind the meat causing chaos in the corner of the kitchen as the grinder splattered juicy meat across the kitchen counter and across his shirt. My mom was busy making the sauce according to Grandmas careful instruction.

My dad working the meat grinder in 2005 On Ravioli Making Day

Later, after Grandpa died and Grandma was no longer strong enough to come to over, we would still call her on Ravioli Making Day to hear her instructions over the phone. My dad is also gone, but my mom faithfully has passed down the traditions that have been bethrothed to her, even though it’s a heritage not her own.

Now my mom is the “Grandma” and she is the head instructor on Ravioli Making Day. My nieces and nephews grew up making raviolis under the careful scrutiny of their Grandma and Grandpa. They learned to roll the dough paper thin and spread the filling so as not to break the tender dough. They learned the art of wielding the ravioli pin so as not to bust open any fragile ravioli. My mom always kept it fun and has even been known to initiate a flour throwing coup if she thought someone was getting “too big for their britches”.

This morning I prepared the meat for roasting under my moms careful instructions. The family will arrive at 1:00 to start making the dough and rolling our ravioli. Sangria and cheese are always served to the hard workers, and everyone mans their station. My husband has inherited the job of meat grinding, trying not to cause chaos in the corner of the kitchen. There will be new assignments as the new members take their place in the Ravioli tradition. We will see who works the hardest and takes to the tradition and who deserves to get a little flour in the face.

Grandma Eleanor’s Spinach & Beef Ravioli

Grandma Eleanor’s Beef & Spinach Ravioli

Spinach & Beef Filling

(Makes approximately 700 Ravioli)

Ingredients

1 large chuck roast
1 London Broil
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 packages breakfast sauce links (uncooked)
1 entire garlic bud (about 15 cloves of garlic)
3 Tablespoons dried parsley
3 Tablespoons dried oregano
3 Tablespoons dried basil
3 packages frozen spinach
1 loaf of slices sandwich bread
2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Cube the meat into 2 inch cubes and place into a roasting pan
Add salt and pepper and roast cover d for 1 hour
add the pork sausages, pealed but not chopped garlic, parsley, oregano and basil to the roasting pan, cover and cook another 2 hours
Remove the meat from the oven and allow to cool.
defrost spinach completely and squeeze all of the moisture out, set aside.
Use a slice of bread to soak up the meat juices and start to put the cooked meat through the meat grinder, alternating meat, spinach and juice soaked bread. Continue grinding until all of the meat and spinach and juice is used up. You do not need to use all of the bread if it’s not needed. It all depends on how juicy your meat was.
once all of the meat, bread and spinach is ground up, start adding the eggs and 2 cups of Parmesan cheese. You may need between 6-10 eggs depending on the consistency of the filling. It needs to be spreadable.
mix all together and set aside.

Ravioli Sauce

Ingredients

2 pounds pork neck bones
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 chopped onion
10 cloves garlic
1 quart (32 ounces) canned tomatoes
1 quart (32 ounces) canned tomato sauce
1 (12 ounce can) tomato paste
2 Tablespoons dried parsley
1 Tablespoon dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Instructions:

Brown the pork neck bones in olive oil on all sides, then remove from pot.
add minced onion, cook until soft, add the garlic, continue to cook until fragrant
add the tomatoes, parsley, basil, oregano, salt, pepper and sugar
rinse the can withnwater and add if the sauce is too thick
Cook for 1 1/2 hours or until the pork is falling off the bone.

Ravioli Dough

Ingredients

2 cups flour
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
3-5 Tablespoons water

Instructions:

Make a mound of flour, add the eggs, 3 Tablespoons water and salt and mix together. Add more water if the dough seems stiff or crumbly. Once a ball forms, knead until elastic and springs back after touch. Allow to rest 15 minutes in a covered container. Cut the ball in half and knead a few more times on a floured surface that you also don’t mind cutting on. We use a large wooden table top.
Roll the dough out until very thin, almost like a sheet of paper, be careful to keep plenty of flour under the dough so it doesn’t stick to the table. Also be careful not to tear the dough or make “pleats” while you roll it out. You also want to keep the dough in a shape of a circle if possible. When the dough is ready fold it in half and make a crease in the middle.
Spread the filling out on half of the dough, up to the line and then fold the other half of the dough over, matching up the sides.
roll the ravioli out with the “”Ravioli Rolling Pin” then use a zigzag cutter to cut out the ravioli.
We contimued to make new batches of dough as we went along. We made 10 batches of dough using 20 cups of flour and 20 eggs. Altogether we made approximately 700 raviolis. We filled 6 containers with 100 raviolis and ate the rest of the ravioli for dinner that night. The purpose of Ravioli Making Day is to have ravioli in the freezer for future dinners.