ravioli

Lemon dill shrimp ravioli

Ravioli (plural; singular: raviolo) are a type of filled pasta composed of a filling sealed between two layers of thin pasta dough. The word ravioli is reminiscent of the Italian verb riavvolgere ("to wrap"), though the two words are not etymologically connected.^{[citation needed]} The word may also be a diminutive of Italian dialectal rava, or turnip.

The filling may be meat-based (either red or poultry), fish-based, or cheese-based. Ravioli can be rectangular, triangular, half-moon or circular in shape. Other traditional Italian fillings include ricotta mixed with grated cheese and vegetables such as spinach, swiss chard, or nettles or they may be a puree made of potatoes, mushrooms, pumpkin, chestnut or artichokes.

Ravioli are often topped with a red tomato-based sauce: though tomatoes were introduced to European botanists in the 16th century, tomato sauce makes a surprisingly late entry in Italian cuisine: in 1692. ^[1] More delicate fillings are often paired with sage and melted butter, or more rarely with pesto- or broth-based sauces.

The earliest mention of ravioli appear in the writings of Francesco di Marco, a merchant of Prato in the 14th century^[2] 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, a recipe that would be familiar today save for its medieval powdering of "sweet and strong spices".^[3] In Tuscany, some of the earliest mentions of the dish come from the personal letters of Francesco di Marco Datini, a merchant of Prato in the 14th century. In Rome, ravioli were already well-known when Bartolomeo Scappi served them with boiled chicken to the papal conclave of 1549.^[4]

Ravioli were already known in 14th century England, appearing in the Anglo-Norman vellum manuscript Forme of Cury under the name of rauioles.^[5][6]. Sicilian ravioli and Malta's ravjul may thus be older than North Italian ones. Maltese ravjul are stuffed with irkotta, the locally produced sheep's-milk ricotta, or with gbejna, the traditional fresh sheep's-milk cheese.

Preparation of home-made ravioli with ricotta.

Today, ravioli are made in worldwide industrial lines supplied by Italian companies such as Arienti & Cattaneo, Ima, Ostoni, and Zamboni. "Fresh" packed ravioli usually have seven weeks of shelf life.

Similar foods in other cultures include the Chinese jiaozi or wonton – in fact, ravioli and tortellini are collectively referred to as "Italian jiaozi" (義大利餃) or "Italian wonton" (意大利雲吞)) – Eastern and central European pierogi, the Russian pelmeni, the Ukrainian varenyky, the Tibetan momo, the Turkish mantı, German Maultaschen, and Jewish kreplach. In the Levant, a similar dish called shishbarak contains pasta filled with minced beef meat and cooked in hot yogurt.

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See also

• Agnolotti
• Baozi
• Jiaozi
• Italian cuisine
• Khinkali
• Maltese cuisine
• Mandu
• Pelmeni
• Pierogi
• Toasted ravioli
• Tortellini

Notes

References

• Adamson, Melitta Weiss; editor (2002) Regional Cuisines of Medieval Europe: A Book of Essays ISBN 0-415-92994-6