The Sopranos is coming back on April 8th

Of course we don't have HBO (wahh) but I am looking forward to seeing what is going to happen in this final season. If you are an avid fan like myself you must drool over the many dishes that they make in the show. I actually bought the Sopranos Family Cookbook a year or so ago and while I haven't attempted to make any of the dishes, I love the history and the pictures as well as the recipes in there. I'm dying to bake Carmela's Pineapple Ricotta ("Rigot") Pie. I am not a fan of Ricotta's texture, but this sounds like a recipe I can't pass up. I also recently bought Entertaining with the Sopranos on eBay for a heckuva deal, am waiting for that to show up in the mail now.

Another favorite recipe I have tried to replicate on my own (and am actually making for my husband's company's potluck on Friday night) is the Ziti al Forno. I found a recipe on Recipezaar and here it is:

1 lb, ziti pasta, cooked
salt
pasta sauce
meatballs ("Sunday Gravy" with meatballs, there is a recipe for their "Sunday Gravy" in the book but I've never made it)
1 cup freshly grated romano cheese or parmigiano-reggiano cheese
1 cup ricotta cheese
8 oz mozzarella cheese (diced up)
grated cheese to sprinkle on top

1. put all the ziti in a large bowl.
2. toss ziti with 3 cups of the gravyand half of the grated cheese.
3. spoon half of the ziti into a casserole dish.
4. spread the ricotta over the top of the ziti.
5. sprinkle with the mozzerella and rest of grated cheese.
6. pour on 1 cup of sauce.
7. top with remaining ziti and rest of sauce (it will be almost overflowing) sprinkle with more grated cheese.
8. bake covered with foil for 45 minutes and then uncovered for 15 minutes.
9. let stand 15 minutes.
10. tell me immediately how it was! (That's per recipezaar's instructions!)

That's probably the one dish I don't mind making and while it is a bit time-consuming, I enjoy making and eating it. I can never find actual ziti pasta in any of the grocery stores here, so I generally use penne pasta or sometimes even rigatoni and do a variation with that.

I can't wait to read reviews after April 8th's season premiere!