He had it right with a pasta special, cheese ravioli in a garlic and white wine sauce, with strips of shiitake mushrooms ($13).

The basic spinach and cheese ravioli, $4.95 a pound, is fine, too.

One dish, cheese ravioli with mashed potatoes in the filling, is based on a recipe by his mother, Maria.

It smelled awful, which was why I never ordered cheese ravioli, convinced it would smell the same.

Almost every restaurant had cheese ravioli.

Baked cheese ravioli stuffed with ricotta, a special one evening, suffered from a commercial-tasting tomato sauce and tough pasta.

It can be baked with noodles and goat cheese, lasagna style, and is excellent over cheese ravioli, as a change from tomato sauce.

Roasted cheese ravioli ($4.95) in a spicy marinara tasted much better than it sounded.

Even cheese ravioli with marinara sauce was noteworthy - pasta squares topped by, but not buried in, a fresh tomato sauce.

To avoid pre-cooking pasta, use frozen cheese ravioli.