Recipes for Life

Abandon the search for Truth, settle for a good fantasy.

Clos Montmartre-There's a vineyard that still exists in the middle of Paris, in Montmartre, the last survivor of the many, mostly abbey-owned, that were in the city when it had walls, few bridges and a great iron cauldron near the river in which counterfeiters were boiled alive in oil.  The vineyard is at the corner of rue des Sai;es amd rie Saomt Vomcemt, a few streets from Sacre'-Coeur.  It is small, producing only five hundred bottles of wine a year that are sold on in the mairie of the 18th arrondissement and also at auction.  The wine is not expensive and not great, but from the heart of France.

I saw an advertisement for Chey Boyardee canned pasta recently and I knew I had to try it. Chef Hector Boiardi(real name) was the original "Chef Boyardee", and he catered the wedding of President Wilson in 1915-with Ravioli Lasagna.

Ravioli Lasagna

Pam No-Stick Cooking Spray; 1 cup frozen loose cut leaf spinach; 2 cans (15oz each) Chef Boyardee Beef Ravioli; 1 can (14.5oz) Hunt's Diced Tomatoes, drained well; 1 1/2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning; 1 cup 1 % low-fat cottage cheese; 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper; 1 cup shredded Italian blend cheese

Preheat oven to 375*F.  Spray 8x8-inch glass baking dish with cooking spray.  Place spinach in microwave-safe bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on HIGH 2 minutes; squeeze spinach dry.  Combine ravioli, tomatoes and Italian seasoning in microwave-safe bowl.  Cover in plastic wrap and microwave on HIGH 3 to 4 minutes or until mixture is hot. Combine cottage cheese, spinach and black pepper in bowl.  Place half of ravioli mixture in bottom of baking dish.  Top with half of cottage cheese mixture and 1/2 cup of shredded cheese.  Repeat layers.  Bake 15 minutes or until is  bubbly.

Now of course this is the updated version-you didn't have Pam Spray, you would have buttered the dish and we all know there weren't microwaves that early and of course you would have had to shred your own cheeses.  But what a great recipe to use that canned pasta that your kids love into a new dish!