Ravioli

Ravioli are a stuffed pasta made by wrapping a filling in thin sheets of dough. They are typically served in broth or with a sauce and come from Italian culinary tradition. While square is the most common shape, round and half-moon (mezzelune) versions also exist.

The English and French words for ravioli were taken from Italian during the 1300s. Where the word originally comes from is unclear. One idea links it to the northern Italian word *rava* (turnip), suggesting the filling once contained turnips, but the earliest recipes—even those for Lent—do not include them. Another theory points to a type of cheese (related to modern *robiola*), but that also seems unlikely.

Ravioli show up in the 14th-century cookbook *The Forme of Cury* under the name *rauioles*. Personal letters from the 1300s by the merchant Francesco Datini of Prato mention them. A mid-14th-century Venetian manuscript, *Libro per cuoco*, describes ravioli filled with blanched, minced green herbs mixed with beaten egg and fresh cheese, simmered in broth and seasoned with “sweet and strong spices.” By 1549, ravioli were well known in Rome, where chef Bartolomeo Scappi served them with boiled chicken to the papal conclave.

Traditionally, ravioli are homemade, and fillings vary by region. In Rome and Latium, the filling uses ricotta, spinach, nutmeg, and black pepper. In Sardinia, it’s ricotta and grated lemon rind. Campania’s ravioli are usually round, filled with ricotta, and—unlike other parts of Italy—omit parsley; the pasta is typically water and flour, sometimes with eggs. In summer, they are often eaten with tomato sauce, and in winter, with ragù. Today, ravioli are also mass-produced by machine.

In Europe and the United States, fresh-packed ravioli can last several weeks. Canned ravioli were first made for the Italian Army during World War I and later popularized by Heinz and Buitoni in the UK and Europe, and by Chef Boyardee in the United States. Canned versions may be filled with beef, processed cheese, chicken, or Italian sausage, served in tomato, tomato-meat, or tomato-cheese sauce. Toasted ravioli—breaded and deep-fried—was created in St. Louis, Missouri, and is a common appetizer.

Ravioli are common in the cooking of Nice, the Côte d’Azur, and surrounding southern French regions. Fillings vary widely, but a local specialty uses leftover daube meat. Miniature cheese-filled ravioli, called *raviole du Dauphiné*, are a specialty of the Drôme department in Rhône-Alpes, especially around Romans-sur-Isère, often served au gratin.

In Cyprus, ravioli filled with halloumi are a traditional pasta dish, boiled in chicken stock and topped with grated halloumi and dried mint. Turkey’s *manti*, similar to ravioli, is stuffed with spiced meat and served with paprika sauce and yogurt. China has *jiaozi* or *wonton*. India’s *gujhia* is a sweet version filled with dry fruits, sugar, and sweet spices, then deep-fried; stuffings vary by region. Jewish cuisine includes *kreplach*—meat or other fillings in egg-pasta dough, simmered in chicken soup—and *calsones* (pronounced caltzones) from Safed and Tiberias, filled with *tzfatit* sheep’s milk cheese, a dish that originated in Jewish communities in Spain and Italy. A similar Middle Eastern dish, *shishbarak*, has pasta filled with minced beef and cooked in hot yogurt. In Argentina, *sorrentinos* are large ravioli typically stuffed with ham or minced meat and cheese, served with tomato and meat sauce.