What to use instead of mezzelune
Butter, browned, with parmesan, sage, or chives. A light cream for the mountain versions. The filling leads.
The closest swap: ravioli
The square parcel.
Mezzelune is stuffed, 50 to 80 mm long, 3 to 5 minutes in the pot. Ravioli sits in the stuffed family and cooks in 3 to 6 minutes. Match the cook time first. A swap that is right in shape and wrong in time still ends up wrong on the plate.
Every swap for mezzelune, ranked
A substitute must behave the same way with the sauce you are making. The ones marked as chosen are hand-picked. The rest score on family, cavity, surface, size, and shared sauces.
- 1
Ravioli
Stuffed · All of Italy
The square parcel (chosen)
- 2
Tortelli
Stuffed · Emilia-Romagna
The Emilian parcel (chosen)
- 3
Casoncelli
Stuffed · Lombardy
The Lombard half-moon (chosen)
- 4
Caramelle
Stuffed · Emilia-Romagna
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 3 sauces
- 5
Cjarsons
Stuffed · Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 1 sauce, close in size
- 6
Culurgiones
Stuffed · Sardinia
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 1 sauce, close in size
- 7
Agnolotti
Stuffed · Piedmont
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces
- 8
Cappelletti
Stuffed · Emilia-Romagna
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces
Match the sauce, not the look
Mezzelune is listed against 3 sauces. Pick the swap that holds the one you are cooking.
- Best pasta for butter and sage: Brown butter with crisped sage leaves. The filled-pasta sauce. It stays out of the way of the filling.
- Best pasta for cream sauce: Panna with cheese, mushrooms, ham, or peas. Heavy and clinging. Ridges and cups keep it on the pasta.
- Best pasta for porcini: Fresh or dried porcini with butter, garlic, parsley, sometimes cream. Egg ribbons, tajarin, pappardelle.
Side by side
The measured difference between mezzelune and each swap.