View source for Ravioli

{{Short description|Type of filled pasta}}
{{For|the German television series|Ravioli (TV series){{!}}''Ravioli'' (TV series)}}
{{pp-semi-indef}}
{{Infobox food
| name            = Ravioli
| image           = Flickr - cyclonebill - Ravioli med skinke og asparges i mascarponecreme.jpg
| image_size      = 240px
| caption         = Ravioli with [[mascarpone]] sauce
| alternate_name  = 
| country         = [[Italy]]
| region          = 
| creator         = 
| course          = 
| type            = [[Pasta]]
| served          = 
| main_ingredient = [[Flour]], [[Eggs as food|egg]]s, water, filling
| variations      = 
}}

'''Ravioli''' ({{IPA|it|raviˈɔli|lang}}; {{singular}}: ''raviolo'', {{IPA|it|raviˈɔlo|lang}}) are a type of [[Filled pasta|stuffed pasta]] comprising a filling enveloped in thin pasta dough. Usually served in broth or with a sauce, they originated as a [[traditional food]] in [[Italian cuisine]]. Ravioli are commonly square, though other forms are also used, including circular and semi-circular (''[[Schlutzkrapfen|mezzelune]]'').

Ravioli appear in the 14th-century cookbook ''[[The Forme of Cury]]'' under the name of ''rauioles''.<ref name="Davidson" /><ref>Adamson ''Regional Cuisines'', p. 25.</ref>

==Etymology==
English and French borrowed the word ''ravioli'' from Italian in the 14th century.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Home : Oxford English Dictionary |url=https://www.oed.com/start;jsessionid=3F82544DE1260A04A0DBF1FDDA830702?authRejection=true&url=%2Fview%2FEntry%2F158681 |access-date=30 April 2023 |website=www.oed.com |language=en}}</ref> The ultimate origin of the word is uncertain.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ravïòlo in Vocabolario - Treccani |url=https://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/raviolo |access-date=30 April 2023 |website=www.treccani.it |language=it-IT}}</ref> It is sometimes connected to the northern Italian word ''rava'', 'turnip', supposing that the filling was made of turnips, but the earliest recipes, even Lenten ones, do not include turnips. Another theory connects it to a kind of cheese (related to modern Italian ''[[robiola]]''), but that also appears unlikely.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=RAVIOLI : Définition de RAVIOLI |url=https://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/ravioli |access-date=30 April 2023 |website=www.cnrtl.fr}}</ref>

==History==
Ravioli are mentioned in the personal letters of [[Francesco Datini]], a merchant of [[Prato]] in the 14th century.<ref name="Davidson">Davidson ''[[The Oxford Companion to Food|Oxford Companion to Food]]'', p. 655.</ref> In Venice, the mid-14th-century manuscript ''Libro per cuoco'' offers ravioli of green herbs blanched and minced, mixed with beaten egg and fresh cheese, simmered in broth and seasoned with "sweet and strong spices".<ref>Dickie ''Delizia'', p. 55.</ref> In [[Rome]], ravioli were already well known when [[Bartolomeo Scappi]] served them with boiled chicken to the [[1549–1550 papal conclave|papal conclave of 1549]].<ref>Dickie ''Delizia'', p. 11</ref>

==Overview==
[[File:Ravioli di lattuga.jpg|thumb|Making of ravioli]] [[File:Ravioli-casalinghi-con-la-ricotta.JPG|thumb|Preparation of home-made ravioli with [[Ricotta|ricotta cheese]]]]
Traditionally, ravioli are made at home. The filling varies according to the area where they are prepared. In [[Rome]] and [[Latium]], the filling is made with [[Ricotta|ricotta cheese]], [[spinach]], [[nutmeg]] and [[black pepper]]. In [[Sardinia]], ravioli are filled with ricotta and grated [[lemon]] rind.

In [[Campania]], ravioli are generally round and filled with ricotta. Unlike other parts of Italy, they omit parsley. The pasta is usually made of water and flour, and sometimes eggs. In summer, they are frequently eaten with a tomato sauce, and in winter, [[ragù]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schwartz |first=Arthur |title=Naples at Table: Cooking in Campania |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |year=1998 |isbn=0-06-018261-X |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/naplesattablecoo0000schw/page/134/ 134]}}</ref>

Modern ravioli are also mass-produced by machine.<ref>Madehow.com, ''How Products are Made'', "Pasta".</ref>

==Around the world==
In Europe and the United States, fresh-packed ravioli have several weeks of shelf life. Canned ravioli were pioneered by the [[Italian Army]] in the [[World War I|First World War]] and were popularized by [[Heinz]] and [[Buitoni]] in the UK and Europe, and [[Chef Boyardee]] in the United States. Canned ravioli may be filled with beef, processed cheese, chicken, or Italian [[sausage]] and served in a tomato, tomato-meat, or tomato-cheese sauce. [[Toasted ravioli]] (ravioli that have been breaded and deep-fried) was developed in St. Louis, Missouri, and is a popular appetizer and snack food.<ref>{{cite book|author=Smith |title=Oxford Companion to American Food|page=386}}</ref>

Ravioli are commonly encountered in the cooking of [[Nice]], the broader [[French Riviera|Côte d'Azur]], and the surrounding regions in the south of France. The contents of these vary greatly, but most idiosyncratic to the region is the use of leftover [[daube]] meat.<ref>{{cite book|author=Wolfert |title=Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking|page= 176}}</ref> Miniaturized cheese-filled ravioli, locally called ''[[raviole du Dauphiné]]'', are a specialty of the [[Drôme]] department in the [[Rhône-Alpes]] region, particularly the commune of [[Romans-sur-Isère]], and are frequently served ''au gratin''.

Ravioli filled with [[halloumi]] are a traditional pasta dish of [[Cyprus|Cypriot]] cuisine.<ref>{{cite web| work=Cyprus Virtual Food Museum | title=Ravioli (translated) | url=http://foodmuseum.cs.ucy.ac.cy/web/guest/36/civitem/2536 | access-date=15 October 2019}}</ref> They are boiled in chicken stock and served with grated halloumi and dried mint on top.

==In other cultures==
In Turkey, ''[[Manti (food)|manti]]'', similar to ravioli, is a popular dish. It is stuffed with spiced meat and served with paprika sauce and yoghurt. Similar dishes in China are ''[[jiaozi]]'' or [[wonton]].

In India, a popular dish called ''[[gujhia]]'' is similar to ravioli. However, it is prepared sweet, with a filling of dry fruits, sugar, and a mixture of sweet spices, then [[Deep frying|deep-fried]] in vegetable oil. Different stuffings are used in different parts of India. 

[[Jewish cuisine]] includes various similar dishes. [[Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine]] features ''[[kreplach]]'', which are pockets of meat or other fillings encased in egg-pasta dough and simmered in chicken soup.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} In the Israeli cities of [[Safed]] and [[Tiberias]], there is a comparable dish called ''calsones'' (pronounced ''caltzones''). These are pockets filled with ''[[tzfatit]]'', a locally made sheep’s milk cheese. This dish originated in [[Jews of Spain|Jewish communities in Spain]] and [[Jews of Italy|Italy]], with migrating Jews bringing it to [[History of the Jews in Syria|Syria]] and then [[Israel]], where it became a [[Shavuot]] staple.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Calsones (Cheese Ravioli) Recipe - Yedida and Elli Dabah |url=https://asif.org/he/%D7%9E%D7%AA%D7%9B%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%9D/calsones-cheese-ravioli/ |access-date=2024-07-10 |website=Asif |language=en-US}}</ref>

A similar Middle Eastern dish called ''[[Joshpara|shishbarak]]'' contains pasta filled with minced beef meat and cooked in hot yogurt.

In Argentina, ''[[sorrentinos]]'' are large ravioli typically stuffed with meat and cheese and served with a tomato and meat sauce.

==See also==
{{Portal|Italy|Food}}
* [[List of pasta]]
* [[List of pasta dishes]]
* [[List of dumplings]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
* Adamson, Melitta Weiss; ed. (2002) ''Regional Cuisines of Medieval Europe: A Book of Essays''. Routledge. {{ISBN|0-415-92994-6}}.
* {{cite book |editor-last=Davidson |editor-first=Alan |title=The Oxford Companion to Food |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-192-11579-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00davi_0 }}
* {{cite book |last=Dickie |first=John |author-link1=John Dickie (historian) |title=Delizia! The Epic History of the Italians and Their Food |year=2008 |publisher=Free Press |isbn=978-0-7432-7799-0}}
* {{cite web |last=McNulty |first=Mary F |publisher=Madehow.com |work=How Products are Made |title=Pasta |url=http://www.madehow.com/Volume-2/Pasta.html |access-date=1 September 2013}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Smith |editor-first=Andrew F. |title=The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AoWlCmNDA3QC&pg=PT386 |access-date=5 September 2012 |year=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-530796-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Wolfert|first=Paula|title=Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking: Traditional and Modern Recipes to Savor and Share|year=2009|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Hoboken, N.J.|isbn=978-0-764-57633-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/mediterraneancla00wolf_0/page/176 176]|url=https://archive.org/details/mediterraneancla00wolf_0/page/176}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://gianni.tv/fresh-pasta-ricotta-ravioli-in-a-san-marzano-sauce/ How to make ravioli from scratch (video)]
* [http://www.raviolishapes.com/ General catalog of double sheet ravioli shapes]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Esk_WrASQo Machine-made ravioli (video)], commercial demonstration of machine producing different types of pasta, including ravioli

{{Pasta}}

[[Category:Types of pasta]]
[[Category:Pasta dishes]]
[[Category:Italian cuisine]]