What to use instead of ravioli
The filling carries the flavour, so the sauce stays simple and smooth: brown butter with sage, a light tomato, a little cream, or a broth. A heavy ragu fights the filling and tears the pasta.
The closest swap: tortelli
The same parcel under the Emilian name.
Ravioli is stuffed, 35 to 60 mm long, 3 to 6 minutes in the pot. Tortelli 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 ravioli, 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
Tortelli
Stuffed · Emilia-Romagna
The same parcel under the Emilian name (chosen)
- 2
Agnolotti
Stuffed · Piedmont
The Piedmontese meat parcel (chosen)
- 3
Mezzelune
Stuffed · Trentino-Alto Adige
A half-moon fold (chosen)
- 4
Tortelloni
Stuffed · Emilia-Romagna
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 3 sauces, close in size
- 5
Pansotti
Stuffed · Liguria
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces, close in size
- 6
Cappellacci
Stuffed · Emilia-Romagna
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 1 sauce, close in size
- 7
Cappelletti
Stuffed · Emilia-Romagna
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 3 sauces
- 8
Tortellini
Stuffed · Emilia-Romagna
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 3 sauces
Match the sauce, not the look
Ravioli is listed against 5 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 pomodoro: Tomato, olive oil, garlic or onion, basil. Smooth and light. Almost any shape works; the classic is spaghetti or penne.
- Best pasta for in brodo: A clear meat or chicken broth. Pastina or filled pasta, cooked and served in the liquid.
- 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 walnut sauce: Salsa di noci: walnuts, bread, garlic, milk, marjoram. Ligurian. Pansotti is its pairing.
Side by side
The measured difference between ravioli and each swap.