This has been the year of ravioli. In my cooking classes, ravioli has emerged as a favorite for corporate teams. It’s easy to see why - most people like Italian food, and even those who don't think they can cook turn out amazing rounds of filled dough. People are always thrilled at how fun and easy it is to make something so delicious.
I also believe that one of ravioli’s selling points is its versatility. Whether you are making them yourself or are using pre-made ravioli from the store, those rounds (or squares) of fresh pasta are a blank canvas for all kinds of delicious fillings: spinach, butternut squash, sun-dried tomatoes, pesto, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, olives, and cheeses ranging from ricotta to gorgonzola.
Ravioli feels like more of an event than spaghetti or macaroni and cheese. It’s a little bit fancy, like something you might order at a nice restaurant but still accessible enough to make at home on a random Tuesday.
So since we are eating fancy dinner tonight, let’s rethink how we cook our ravioli. Classically, we boil some water, drop in our ravioli, wait a few minutes, fish them out, and top them with sauce. Which is all fine and good but don't you sometimes wish ravioli could be a little… more? Maybe a little less doughy? With more texture? Maybe even a little bit crunchy?
There is a way, and itś just as easy as dropping your ravioli in boiling water: Pan-fry your ravioli.
It is a little-known secret that fresh ravioli, including those in the freezer and refrigerator cases, do not need to be boiled. And actually, this goes for those vacuum-packed pouches of gnocchi, too.
Fresh pasta does need to be cooked, but you can skip the step of boiling your ravioli (and gnocchi), and cook it in a skillet instead. Pan-fried ravioli (and gnocchi) have a crispy crust, a warm gooey center, and they take on sauce beautifully. Cooking your ravioli in a skillet also reduces the time you need to wait until you are enjoying a plate of your delicious, perfectly sauced, crispy ravioli since you are not waiting for the water to boil.
How to Pan-fry Your Ravioli
Put half a stick of butter or ¼ cup of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Heat the olive oil until it shimmers or the butter until it melts and browns. Add some garlic and herbs. Gently lay your ravioli in the pan in a single layer. Don't poke at them much, just let them brown. In 3 or 4 minutes, use a spatula to turn them over and give them another 2 or 3 minutes. When they are golden brown, take them out of the pan, then sauce and plate them. Drizzle any sauce and herbs left in the pan over the ravioli, then enjoy the fruits of your labor.
If you are cooking a lot of ravioli, repeat the process. Ravioli do better pan-fried in a couple of smaller batches than one over-crowded one. If you are doing several batches, keep the first ones warm, while you cook the others, then sauce them all at once so they are all ready to eat at the same time.
One final note - if you’ve made your ravioli by hand and over-filled them (like I always do), pan frying is the best way to cook them. Boiling over-stuffed ravioli will result in murky pasta water and empty ravioli as the unsealed edges give way once they hit the water. Pan-frying ensures that the filling stays inside the ravioli. If you read that as a great reason to seriously amp up the amount of filling you can put inside your ravioli, I wouldn’t disagree.
Cheers -
Chelly Klann
