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4. Turn out all the contents of the pan into a bowl. Add the ricotta, egg yolk, grated Parmesan, and a tiny grating—about ⅛ teaspoon—of nutmeg, and mix with a fork until all ingredients have been evenly combined. Taste and correct for salt.

5. Make yellow pasta dough by the machine method, or by the hand-rolled method. Cut it for squaretortelloni with 2-inch sides, and stuff them with the vegetable mixture. When boiling the pasta, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the water.

Cappellacci—Ravioli Filled with Sweet Potatoes

WHEN YOU SAY cappellacci in Italy, it is understood you are talking about a square pasta dumpling with a furtively sweet pumpkin-based filling. It is a specialty of the northeastern section of Emilia-Romagna, in particular of the city of Ferrara.

The pumpkin used there, known as zucca barucca, is sweet and juicy with a satiny flesh. It has no equivalent among other squashes. When I first set down the recipe in The Classic Italian Cook Book, I found that I could most closely recreate the filling in North America not with any of the local pumpkin varieties, none of which is comparable in flavor and texture to zucca barucca, but by using sweet potato instead.

You must choose the right kind of sweet potato: Not the one with the pale, grayish yellow skin, but the dark-skinned one with a reddish-orange flesh, sometimes mistakenly called a yam. When cooked, it is lusciously sweet and moist, quite as good for cappellacci as the best zucca barucca.

About 140 cappellacci, 6 servings

FOR THE FILLING

1¾ pounds orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, see prefatory remarks above

A pair of imported Italian amaretti cookies

1 egg yolk

3 tablespoons chopped prosciutto

1½ cups freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

3 tablespoons parsley chopped very fine

Whole nutmeg

Salt

FOR THE PASTA

Homemade yellow pasta dough, made by the machine method, OR by the hand-rolled method, using 3 large eggs, approximately 1⅔ cups unbleached flour, and 1 tablespoon milk

Recommended sauce Butter and Parmesan Cheese Sauce, or Cream and Butter Sauce. Serve with grated Parmesan.

1. Preheat oven to 450°.

2. Bake the potatoes in the middle level of the hot oven. After 20 minutes turn the thermostat down to 400° and cook for another 35 to 40 minutes, until the potatoes are very tender when prodded with a fork.

3. Turn off the oven. Remove the potatoes and split them in half lengthwise. Return the potatoes to the oven, cut side facing up, leaving the oven door slightly ajar. Remove after 10 minutes, when they will have dried out some.

4. Reduce the amaretti cookies to a powder using the food processor or a pestle and mortar.

5. Peel the potatoes and purée them through a food mill into a bowl. Add the powdered cookies, egg yolk, prosciutto, grated Parmesan, parsley, a tiny grating—about ⅛ teaspoon—of nutmeg, and salt. Mix with a fork until all ingredients are evenly combined.

6. Make yellow pasta dough by the machine method, or by the hand-rolled method. Cut it for square ravioli with 2-inch sides, and stuff them with the sweet potato mixture. When boiling the pasta, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the water.

Baked Rigatoni with Bolognese Meat Sauce

For 6 servings

1½ pounds rigatoni

Salt

Bolognese Meat Sauce

A medium-thick Béchamel Sauce, using 2 cups milk, 4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter, 3 tablespoons flour, and ¼ teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

An oven-to-table ceramic baking dish

Butter for smearing and dotting the dish

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Cook the rigatoni in abundant, boiling salted water. Drain when exceptionally firm, a shade less cooked than al dente because it will undergo additional cooking in the oven. Transfer to a mixing bowl.

3. Add the meat sauce, béchamel, and 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan to the pasta. Toss thoroughly to coat the pasta well and distribute the sauces uniformly.

4. Lightly smear the baking dish with butter. Put in the entire contents of the bowl, leveling it with a spatula. Top with