Ciao a tutti!

It's a Sunday dinner kind of Monday here at Cooking with Nonna, and this week we are going to be making the most traditional Sunday dinner of them all - Homemade Cavatelli with Ragu`.  For those who are thinking, "Rossella, are you stupid?  Ragu` is a brand of sauce!"  While you are technically right, the Italian word "Ragu`" in this sense is our way of denoting the type of sauce it is.  For example, Bolognese sauce contains meat, but Ragu` is the only one that uses whole pieces.  In our version we'll be using four kinds -- lamb, pork, veal and beef.  This is not vegetarian friendly, so we suggest making them a nice salad if you happen to be in the company of any.

While I'm out back giving the tomatoes the Gallagher treatment, Nonna Rosetta will be showing us how to make cavatelli completely  

from scratch.  Now, in your average family serving there is usually a large quantity of pasta, so the idea of making each and every one by hand may seem daunting, but fear not, gentle viewer.  With some tricks courtesy of Nonna Rosetta, you will be cranking your homemade pasta out faster than your family can eat it.

As I've said, this is THE most traditional Italian Sunday dinner.  Very simple, elegant flavors mixed with homemade pasta formed out of love (and a little bit of flour and water).  There's hardly a home in Italy that doesn't have the smell of Ragu` pouring out of the windows come the afternoon.  This will also serve as a great primer when you decide that you want to start making your own sauce, but somehow can't seem to get the ingredients to mesh.  Thank you so much, Nonna Rosetta, and thank you for watching.  Until next week...

Tanti Baci,

Rossella