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Scoop the ravioli from the cooking water with a slotted spoon, leaving excess water clinging to the pasta (this helps form the sauce), and transfer to the sauté pan along with the orange juice. Toss once or twice until the contents of the pan are well acclimated.

Remove the pan from the heat, add the parsley and orange zest, and divide among four shallow bowls, spooning sauce and garnish over the ravioli.

PAPPARDELLE WITH PIG’S-HEAD RAGÙ

At Lolita we often get in whole hogs to make our charcuterie. Now I like headcheese as much as the next guy, but what I like even more is slowly cooking the head in some of my Yia Yia’s Sunday Sauce. The head gives the sauce incredible body, and the picked meat is super-tender and loaded with flavor. The biggest bonus is the shriek of the vegetarian servers or of children when they sneak a peak at what I’ve got cooking, only to be stared down by the head of the hog. Now that’s good American fun! If you don’t want to use a whole pig’s head, you can use 1½ pounds pork shoulder cut into large dice combined with a couple of pig’s trotters for the gelatin in the skin, roasted as instructed for the pig’s head.

Serves 8

1 head from a 12-to 18-pound suckling pig

Kosher salt

Yia Yia’s Sunday Sauce

1½ cups red wine

1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 bay leaf

Egg Yolk Pasta Dough

Rice flour or Wondra flour, for dusting the cut pasta

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Season the pig’s head with salt and roast in a roasting pan in the oven for 1 hour.

Transfer the head to a large pot and add the sauce, wine, red pepper flakes, and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer over very low heat and cook for 3 hours, skimming away excess fat. Turn off the heat under the sauce. Remove the head from the sauce and let it cool.

Roll the pasta in a pasta roller going all the way to the second to thinnest setting. Dust the pasta sheets with flour, then fold each sheet in half lengthwise and then in half again, and place on a lightly floured cutting board. With a sharp knife, cut the pasta into ½- to ¾-inch-wide noodles, tossing with more flour if necessary. Cover with parchment paper or a dry kitchen towel.

Pull all the meat from the head and coarsely chop the meat, saving any excess skin.

Crisp the skin in a hot dry sauté pan over high heat, turning once, about 1 minute. Return the skin and the meat to the sauce. Return the sauce to a simmer. Discard the bay leaf before serving.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and add enough salt so that it tastes seasoned. When the water returns to a boil, cook the pappardelle until al dente, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain and toss with about half of the sauce.

MAC AND CHEESE WITH ROASTED CHICKEN, GOAT CHEESE, AND ROSEMARY

This is my stepson Kyle’s favorite dish ever—and I urge parents to try this for your kids who are picky. The dish had an almost instant cult-like following from the day I put it on the menu at Piccolo Mondo in 1992, and to this day, I can’t take it off the menu. It’s comfort food times ten, delicious, a great way to use leftover roast chicken—a dish that’s special enough for entertaining and easy enough for a quick Sunday night dinner. The only thing that upsets me about this dish is that it’s the only thing Kyle will eat when he goes to the restaurant. And he’s not a kid anymore.

This is a dish that breaks a few primary rules: it pairs rich with rich, and the textures are soft on soft. But it is deeply satisfying.

Serves 6 to 8

Kosher salt

1 pound dried rigatoni pasta

1 quart (4 cups) heavy cream

2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

8 ounces fresh goat cheese (1 cup)

2 cups shredded roasted chicken

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and add enough salt so that it tastes seasoned. While the water is coming to a boil, put the cream, rosemary, and ½ teaspoon salt in a large saucepan over high heat. Bring just to a simmer, then lower the heat to medium and simmer to reduce the mixture by half.

Add the goat cheese and chicken to the cream and bring the mixture back