Pasta could be filled with a wide a variety of sweet and savory ingredients, and the pasta dough used could be shaped in many ways to create different types of stuffed pasta.

Ravioli and agnolotti are both varieties of stuffed pasta that are often shaped into small rectangles of similar size.  

Agnolotti is sometimes confused for a type of ravioli, however these two stuffed pasta have their different origins, ingredients and they are also shaped differently.

In this post, we discuss the differences between agnolotti and ravioli

Difference between ravioli and agnolotti

Ravioli and agnolotti are quite similar, however, the techniques used to make both stuffed pasta varieties are different.

In agnolotti, a single sheet of pasta of flattened pasta is folded over the fillings and the edges are sealed with a firm pinch, ravioli on the other hand is made with two sheets of flattened pasta dough with the filling placed in-between the two layers.

The fillings for ravioli is typically ricotta cheese, and although cheese could be added as one of the fillings in agnolotti, some variants of agnolotti may be made without cheese.

What is Agnolotti?

 Agnolotti is a variety of stuffed pasta that originated in the Piedmont region in Italy around the 12th century.  

This stuffed pasta is cut into small rectangular shapes about 3 cm in size, it could also come in other shapes as well including semi-circles.

The Pasta is first rolled into thin sheets and then the stuffing is added.

Agnolotti is usually stuffed with chicken or beef. It can also be stuffed with crab or lobster meat

There are many variants of agnolotti and the fillings could include vegetables such as spinach, chard, and small amounts of ricotta or other types of cheese.

When the stuffing has been added, the sheet of pasta is simply folded with over the stuffing.

The edges of are agnolotti are also sealed with a firm pinch.

The folding of agnolotti creates one smooth side while the other edges are pinched together. 

This pinching forms little pockets that hold thick sauces very well. 

Agnolotti is prepared by putting the stuffed pasta in boiling water.  

This stuffed pasta can either also be cooked in a beef broth or together with a variety of sauces. 

The sauce used could be that from braising the meat for the filling or a butter sauce.

 Agnolotti can also be used in pasta salads.

What is ravioli?

Ravioli is a widely popular traditional Italian pasta dish  

The word “ravioli” is gotten from an Italian word that means “to stuff.”  

The pasta dough is made from egg, flour, and water, and then it is rolled out into a thin flat sheet.

Small spoonful of filling are then placed about 0.5 inches apart on the rolled out pasta dough.

After the fillings have been laid out, another thin sheet of rolled out pasta dough is carefully placed on top of the fillings.  

Ravioli could be made with a ravioli rolling pin.

The ravioli rolling pin is rolled over the two layers of dough with the filling in the center.

The action of the rolling pin presses the edges of the dough and envelops the filling within the dough.

The ravioli is cut apart into small rectangles, ravioli could also be circular or semi-circular (mezzelune) in shape.

A ravioli form tray may also be used to make large quantities of fresh ravioli.

The filling for ravioli may vary depending on where it is made, however, the most traditional filling is ricotta cheese.

Ravioli could also be stuffed with meat, seafood, vegetables and mushrooms.  

Ravioli is prepared by boiling, and it could be served with a sauce or in broth.

Conclusion

Each Italian region has its ravioli and agnolotti recipe with different fillings and ways that they are prepared.

Ravioli and agnolotti fillings are often quite similar and may be confused for each other.

However, instead of taking two layers of pasta dough, adding filling and then cutting them to produce ravioli, agnolotti pasta is simply folded over.  

Agnolotti pasta is made by hand and therefore may be more expensive while ravioli could be made both by hand and with machine

Ravioli is also more popular compared to agnolotti and can be readily found in fresh and frozen form