What is ravioli? ravioli recipes

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

In cooking, there are many dishes that have an external similarity, but nevertheless differ significantly from each other. That is why experts are still arguing, figuring out what ravioli is. To give a correct answer to this question, you need to get to know the product itself.

Product description and features

Italians are the best at what ravioli is. After all, it is in their national cuisine that this product occupies one of the leading places along with pizza, risotto and spaghetti. These are products made from unleavened semi-baked dough, which are very reminiscent of our Russian dumplings. In fact, they are a special kind of pasta. This is exactly what any Italian culinary specialist will answer if he is asked what ravioli is. These products can have a variety of shapes:

• square;
• ellipse;
• circle;
• triangle;
• crescent.

It all depends on what tools are used to prepare them. In addition, ravioli is made with different fillings. They are:

• meat;
• from poultry;
• fish;
• vegetables;
• fruit;
• cheese;
• mixed.

These original products can be both an independent dish and a side dish. If they use a sweet filling (fruit or even chocolate), then they immediately turn into a very tasty and original dessert.

Interesting to know

Historians claim that the first mention of ravioli can be attributed to the 14th century. It was then that Francesco Marco's letters spoke of an unusual dish of stuffed boiled dough. If we consider this product as a kind of pasta, then it could appear only after 5 centuries. Indeed, the name of this dish entered dictionaries in 1841. So, what are ravioli and how do they differ from our famous Russian dumplings? Although both of these products are stuffed dough products, there is still a difference between them:

1. Dumplings are usually made by hand, and the technology of making ravioli involves the use of special forms. This fact once again confirms that the Italian dish is a type of pasta.
2. For dumplings, as a rule, a dough is used, consisting of flour, s alt and water. The semi-finished product from which ravioli is made must contain eggs and vegetable oil.
3. In Russia, dumplings have always been boiled in boiling water. This processing method is considered classic for such a product. At the same time, ravioli is prepared in different ways. They are not only boiled, but also fried in oil or deep-fried.

Such differences are mainly based on nationalfeatures and taste preferences of residents of different countries.

Italian dumplings with minced chicken

How to cook the famous Italian ravioli at home? A recipe with a photo for such a case is best suited. It will help you do everything right and avoid possible mistakes. As an example, consider the option where the following products are needed:

For the test:

3 ½ cups flour, 4 eggs, 50 ml water, 10 grams s alt and 17 grams vegetable oil.

For stuffing:

0.6kg minced chicken, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 medium shallot, s alt, raw egg, 3 sprigs cilantro or parsley and pepper.

For sauce:

½ cup white wine, shallots, 250 grams butter, 30 grams tartar vinegar, 4 sprigs each cilantro and fresh basil, s alt, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley and ground black pepper.

The whole cooking process can be divided into several stages:

1. First you need to make the dough. To do this, beat the eggs well, and then add water, oil and s alt to them.
2. Pour the flour into a bowl, and make a small depression in the center, where to drain the prepared mixture. Mix with a fork in a circular motion from the middle to the edges.
3. Knead the dough, pulling it out from time to time until it sticks to your hands. This will take at least 10-15 minutes. After that, the semi-finished product should be allowed to lie down at normal room temperature for about 1 hour.
4. BThis is the time to make the sauce. First, put the chopped onion, soaked in vinegar and wine, on fire and wait until the moisture has completely evaporated.
5. Add butter and beat the mixture a little.
6. After that, you need to add chopped greens, pepper, s alt and mix everything well.
7. To prepare the filling, you just need to combine all the ingredients. True, you first need to finely chop the greens, onions and garlic.
8. The dough is divided into 4 parts, each of which is rolled into a thin layer.
9. For the preparation of ravioli, it is better to purchase a special form. First, it should be covered with half of one sheet. Then, making small indentations above the holes, fill them with stuffing. After that, cover the form with the second part of the layer and roll it with a rolling pin.
10. After that, the finished products must be put in boiling water, adding one tablespoon of oil and s alt to it. Cook no more than 4 minutes.

Now the only thing left to do is put the ravioli on a plate and pour over the prepared sauce.

Pasta with mushroom stuffing

What other ravioli can you make? The recipe with a photo will tell beginners the hostess, for example, how to make a popular dish stuffed with fresh mushrooms. In this case, you can use the dough without eggs. This will not affect the quality of the finished product. From the products you will need:

For the test:

300 grams of flour, 60 milliliters of olive oil, s alt and 165 milliliters of water.

For stuffing:

400 grams of any fresh mushrooms, egg, s alt, 50 grams of butter, 100 gramsonion.

Cooking method:

1. First you need to knead the dough, using the already familiar standard method. The finished semi-finished product should stand a little.
2. Preparing the filling begins with grinding the main products. Onions and mushrooms should be arbitrarily chopped, and then fried in oil until all the moisture that has formed has evaporated. After that, the mixture must be s alted and allowed to cool.
3. Ravioli don't need a special mold to make. The dough can be divided in half, and then each part can simply be rolled into a layer.
4. Put the filling on one sheet in small slides.
5. Spread the free spaces with a beaten egg.
6. Cover with second sheet.
7. Cut products using a special knife.

Further, ready-made ravioli can be boiled or fried, depending on the desire of the hostess herself.

Shaping Methods

The secret of making ravioli lies in a special way of molding blanks. If dumplings are molded by hand, gently pinching the edges with your fingers, then there are special devices for the popular Italian dish:

1. Figured knife. First, the filling is laid out on a thin layer of dough with a teaspoon. There should be a small distance of at least 3-4 centimeters between the slides. The filling must be covered with a second sheet, the gaps must be cut with a special knife. As a result, the products have spectacular curly edges.
2. Shape. Depending on the size, it may have a different number of cells. First they cover it firsttest layer. Then the filling is placed in the places where the holes are. Then the structure is covered with another layer and thoroughly rolled with a rolling pin. After that, the finished products fall out through the openings and end up on the desktop.
3. Figured rolling pin. This original device is a cylinder in the form of a screw with three longitudinal ribs. Rolling with such a rolling pin over a structure consisting of two sheets of dough with filling, you can get blanks (envelopes), which then only need to be carefully cut with a curly knife.

The ravioli obtained as a result of such actions can be further fried, boiled or baked in the oven, pouring pre-prepared sauce.

Ravioli stuffed with cheese

In Italy, most often they cook ravioli with cheese. This type of filling is best suited to the national traditions of this country. To prepare the dish, you will need the following main ingredients: 250 grams of goat cheese, a little butter, 150 grams of flour, s alt, 75 grams of boiled beetroot puree, egg, Parmesan cheese, pepper and chopped greens.

This dish is made in stages:

1. First, to prepare the colored paste, you need to carefully drive a fresh egg into the flour, and then add the beets and s alt. The dough should be soft and elastic enough. To ripen, wrap it in cling film and set aside for a while.
2. To prepare the filling, s alt the cheese, and then gently knead it with a fork, addingsome pepper and herbs.
3. Roll out the dough on a table sprinkled with flour in the form of a thin layer.
4. Spread the filling on it with a teaspoon so that there is a distance of about 4-5 centimeters between the slides.
5. Cover the products with the second flipper and press with your hands so that they stick together.
6. Use a knife with a disc curly blade to carefully divide the structure into parts.

Now the ravioli should be boiled in s alted water, and then served, drizzled with butter and sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese.

Italian Classics

Classic ravioli are the dishes that Italians are accustomed to preparing with spinach ricotta filling. Making them is, in principle, easy. The main thing is that the following ingredients are available: ½ kilogram of flour, 2 whole chicken eggs, as well as 8 yolks and 2 proteins, 30 milliliters of olive oil, ¼ teaspoon of s alt and grated nutmeg, 30 grams of Parmesan cheese, 150 each grams of spinach and ricotta.

To properly cook ravioli, you need to perform all the steps in a certain sequence:

1. First, from flour, 2 eggs and 8 yolks, you need to knead an elastic dough. After that, it should lie in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
2. For the filling, lightly fry washed, dried and randomly chopped spinach in oil. As soon as the greens decrease in volume, you need to add the remaining components.
3. The dough is divided into two parts, each of which is thinly rolled out.
4. One sheet of neat slideslay out the stuffing.
5. Cover everything with the second layer and press it with your hands in between.
6. Cut the blank into individual ravioli.
7. Boil products in lightly s alted water.

Serve these ravioli hot, drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle with grated cheese. At the same time, it should have time to melt.

With the scent of the forest

Every hostess can come up with a filling for ravioli herself. The classic recipe allows you to use absolutely any options. Take, for example, the one where the pasta is cooked with potatoes and mushrooms. The following ingredients are needed here:

For the test:

½ kilogram of flour, 100 milliliters of olive oil, 20 grams of s alt, as well as 4 eggs and 2 yolks.

For stuffing:

6 potatoes, onion, 300 grams of fresh mushrooms, ground pepper, 60 grams of butter and s alt.

The process of preparing such ravioli is similar to the previous options:

1. The dough is cooked first. To do this, add all other components to the container with sifted flour. The kneading, as a rule, lasts about 10 minutes. After that, the finished semi-finished product must be wrapped in cling film and put in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.
2. For the filling, you first need to boil the potatoes. Then it should be mashed into a puree and cooled. Separately, fry chopped mushrooms with onions in a pan. After that, the products need to be combined, add a little s alt to them, pepper and mix well.
3. Roll out the dough into a layer 1 mm thick and cut into equal strips. Their width depends onthe size of the ravioli. Next, you need to proceed as follows: put the filling on one strip in small slides. The distance between them should be about 2 centimeters. Cover the products with the second strip and press it lightly. After that, with a curly knife with teeth, cut the workpiece into identical pieces. Do the same with the rest of the strips.
4. Boil the finished ravioli in s alted water with oil.

After that, the product can be eaten. As an additive, it is better to use aromatic oil (garlic or basil).

Vegetarian option

How else is ravioli prepared in your homeland? A classic Italian recipe with a photo will clearly show how you can fry these unusual dumplings. Required: 300 grams of ready-made dough, onion, 200 grams of fresh pumpkin pulp, 50 grams of green peas and 1 tomato.

In this case, the preparation will be as follows:

1. For the filling, cut pumpkin pulp and onion into cubes, and then fry them, adding peas, until tender.
2. Mash the mixture with a blender.
3. Roll out the dough into a thin layer and brush it with a little water.
4. Put the filling on one side of the sheet in equal slides. The distance between them should correspond to the size of the products.
5. Cover the filling with the free side of the sheet and press firmly.
6. Cut the structure into blanks using a special knife with a curly blade.
7. Boil products infor 5 minutes in boiling water.
8. Fry sliced tomatoes in a frying pan in oil.
9. Add the ravioli to them and heat the food together for 3 minutes.

Vegetable lovers will love the finished products. Fried tomatoes perfectly set off the taste of fresh pumpkin, and will be a real gift for true vegetarians.

Traditional

To prepare such an unusual dish in the spirit of real Italian traditions, it is better to use the classic ravioli dough recipe. It needs a minimum set of products: 250 grams of flour, a little s alt, 2 eggs and 4 yolks.

A distinctive feature of this variant is that there is practically no water in it. Moisture is taken mainly from the egg white. The result is a brightly colored mass that really looks like a real paste. Cooking it is not difficult at all:

1. Sift the flour and then pour it into a bowl.
2. Beat eggs with s alt.
3. Gradually adding them to the flour, knead in progressive circular motions.

To make the semi-finished product soft and elastic, you need to remember one important rule: for every 100 grams of flour, you need to take one egg. If the mixture is too thick, then you need to gradually add the yolks. This will not only correct the consistency, but also make the color of the dough more vibrant and beautiful. Next, the ravioli are prepared depending on the selected recipe.