The "My Wife Tops The List At Last" Story

Ravioli ala Carol with butter sage sauce.

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting on my leather lounge eating Ravioli ala Carol and watching "Wheel of Fortune".  Not just any ravioli, but my wife's ravioli.  She has finally made it to the top of my list of favorite ravioli.  Now, to be fair, my list for years was based on places we enjoy eating, but after eating her butter sage ravioli for the last year or so, I finally decided to put it at the top.  On February 20, 2010 I posted a story about my favorite ravioli.  At the time a small local restaurant that had opened a few years earlier named Ciros was on the top of my list.  I loved their Ravioli Quattro Formaggi with sauteed shrimp, garlic and asparagus.  

Ciro's Ravioli Quattro Formaggi with shrimp.

Then they went and substituted the asparagus with broccoli rabe and that did it for them.  They were replaced by Chesapeake Inn's Crab Ravioli in a creamy crab aurora sauce.  It had big pieces of jumbo lump crabmeat that filled the ravioli as well as floated on the top of it.  I must admit I still love the stuff, but we only get to the Chesapeake Inn a few times a year and I need my favorite ravioli more times than that.  My third place choice back then was a place called Cafe Mileto that was in Germantown, Maryland.  Washington DC Magazine had picked the restaurant as one of the best Italian eateries in the DC area and we did manage to eat there most every time we visited our daughter and her family who lived nearby the restaurant.  

Chesapeake Inn's Crab Ravioli.

The Ravioli Rose was outstanding and they baked it in their wood-fired oven.  So then my daughter and her family up and moved and there goes my #3 pick.  My fourth place ravioli back in 2010 was a place in St. Martin called Il Nettuno which was located in a small waterfront village called Grand Case which was referred to as the culinary capital of the Caribbean.  I loved their Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli with sage butter sauce and had it every year when we made our trip to Grand Case while on vacation.  But now the eatery has disappeared.  Actually disappeared!  

Cafe Mileto's Ravioli Rose.

The island was struck last year by a devastating hurricane and many of the restaurants on Restaurant Row were destroyed.  So Carol, knowing how much I enjoyed their ravioli, decided she would make me her version of the ravioli with sage butter.  And boy was it great!  She makes it for me a few times a month and I know I will never tire of it.  

Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli with sage butter.

The flavor is tremendous and she adds just the right amount of sage to the melted butter.  A glass of my favorite wine makes it the perfect meal.  So, the other night as I sat and ate my evening meal while watching "Wheel of Fortune" I told her I think she has mastered the recipe that it is now my favorite.  Now, we plan to head to Chesapeake City this weekend with our friends Jere and Just Sue and if we eat at the Chesapeake Inn, I'll have to make make a critical taste test.  One way or another, having Ravioli ala Carol on my menu ever week or so will be hard to top.  Always tastes better at home in front of the TV.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.