Isabella from Italian Street Kitchen recommends 15 filled pasta dishes to make at home.
I often go back and forth with what I consider to be the peak of Italian food, but ravioli and the other filled types of pasta are always near the top of my list. I just love the combination of beautiful fresh pasta with a flavour explosion inside, and they’ve definitely been some of my most popular dishes at ISK over the years. You can’t have every meal at the best Italian restaurant though, so a lot of friends ask me for guidance on making Italian food at home. I’ve found Gourmet Traveller to be a fantastic resource for delicious Italian recipes, so I thought I’d recommend some of their filled pasta dishes you can easily make for your family. If you are looking for fresh pasta in Parramatta, come visit us today!
1. Ravioli alla Caprese
If you love cheese as much as I do, then this is the ravioli pasta for you. It’s a wonderfully decadent dish, boasting a filling that includes pecorino, ricotta, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, served in a lemon-butter sauce.
2. Pumpkin ravioli with sage brown butter
This is a classic combination that is a little bit like a dish I make at my Italian restaurant Sydney. I would argue that pumpkin could be the best ravioli filling, due to its complex flavour and delightfully rich, creamy texture.
3. Spinach and ricotta ravioli
Speaking of classic combinations, there’s no more traditional ravioli filling than spinach and ricotta. This recipe however is far from traditional, given that it admits to cheating by using wonton wrappers to simplify the process. While I would never take such a shortcut in my restaurant, I’ll admit that it could be a good option if you don’t want to deal with the effort of making ravioli from scratch.
4. Potato and cauliflower tortelloni
Tortelloni is filled pasta common in Northern Italy, and is something of a larger version of tortellini. The potato, cauliflower, and parmesan filling used in this recipe is truly magical, and one I’ve recommended to number of friends to make at home.
5. Mushroom tortelloni with buffalo ricotta
Another great tortelloni dish that will be a huge hit with any mushroom fans. It allows you to use a fabulous mix of different mushrooms, making it quite a tribute to this amazing, nutritious food.
6. Beef and ricotta cannelloni
I couldn’t have a list of filled pasta recipes without featuring cannelloni. This is a cylindrical type of pasta that is typically saved for special occasions. Beef and ricotta are a superb combination for the filling, with the dish then enhanced by the use of besciamella, which is also known as béchamel sauce.
7. Prawn ravioli
If you adore prawns then this could be the best ravioli recipe on the list for you. It’s one that was originally designed for a lobster filling, but I think that king prawns make it even more delectable.
8. Potato and leek ravioli
The creaminess of the potatoes and sweetness of the leeks make for a luscious filling that is the perfect comfort food.
9. Spinach and ricotta rotolo
That famous spinach and ricotta filling is back again, but this time in rotolo; traditional pasta dish that is scarcely known outside of Italy. The word ‘rotolo’ translates to ‘scroll’ or ‘coil’ which describes the appearance of the pasta. This dish is aesthetically spectacular and will certainly impress anyone you make it for.
10. Prosciutto and parmesan cappellacci
Cappellacci is a less common type of filled pasta but undeniably one you should try. This recipe features prosciutto too which is just about my favourite cured meat.
11. Quail egg and ricotta ravioli
If you’d like to try a unique recipe for ravioli, then look no further. Quail eggs are quite a delicacy and pair delightfully with ricotta and parmesan in this sumptuous dish.
12. Tortellini cacio e pepe
Tortellini is the smaller variation of tortelloni, which was used in two of the earlier recipes. It works perfectly with the filling of cacio e pepe, which translates to ‘cheese and pepper’ in Italian.
13. Ricotta agnolotti with anchovy butter
I really love the butter anchovy sauce used in this recipe. Its richness is a fantastic complement to the classic ricotta-filled ravioli.
14. Tortelli caramelle
Tortelli is a filled pasta traditionally made in the Tuscany, Lombardy, and Emilia-Romagna regions of Italy. It’s terrific in this caramelle dish, which is named after its resemblance to lollies, and gives the meal a stunning appearance.
15. Pansotti with walnut sauce
Pansotti is a lesser known triangular-shaped pasta that means ‘pot-bellied’ in Italian. While it’s certainly an underrated pasta, what really stands out in this recipe is the phenomenal walnut sauce.
I hope you can enjoy some of these recipes soon, but if you’d like me to make you some of my own filled pasta dishes, reserve your table online now!
