Ravioli and agnolotti are both Italian delicacies known and loved in Italy and worldwide. They are both very similar in appearance and are often mistaken for one for the other. However, they are undoubtedly two separate dishes and disserve proper appreciation and praise. So, what are the differences between agnolotti and ravioli?
Agnolotti are small pasta hot pockets made of folded dough pieces. Ravioli are made of two individual dough pieces pressed together. While the ravioli dough is made with flour and eggs, the agnolotti dough contains flour, eggs, olive oil, and milk. Both are cooked by boiling and served with sauces.
Angolotti and ravioli are both delicious pasta varieties that have found a place in people’s kitchens and hearts. They are very similar but aren’t the same. In the following paragraphs, I will tell you all about the differences between ravioli and agnolotti.
Agnolotti vs. Ravioli: Differences
Angolotti and ravioli may taste and appear very similar, but their fundamental differences in appearance, dough, filling, taste, preparation, use, and popularity make them two different pasta varieties.
Appearance
Traditionally, agnolotti is small rectangular pasta pockets filled with meat. They are made using one dough piece folded over the filling. Agnolotti often has a rectangular shape, but they can vary in appearance, as some people also give them a semi-circular shape.
Nevertheless, they always have one smooth edge, the one where the dough is folded, and the rest is pressed to prevent the filling from escaping. The pocked is sealed by hand, using only the maker’s fingertip. Therefore the folded sides have small dimples.
Ravioli are square hot pasta pockets traditionally filled with ricotta cheese. However, the filling varies depending on where they are made. Unlike agnolotti, they are not folded, but consist of two individual pieces of dough pressed onto each other.
Ravioli are traditionally square-shaped but can also be shaped otherwise, depending on who makes them. The edges are pressed together with a fork leaving small straight stripes on the dough.
Dough
Angolotti and ravioli use similar doughs, but they have some crucial differences in this aspect. While you normally make ravioli with traditional pasta dough containing eggs and all-purpose flour, angolotti’s dough also contains milk and olive oil.
Filling
Ravioli are traditionally filled with ricotta cheese, but they are very open to experimentation and improvisation regarding the filling. Depending on where they are made, ravioli can be filled with spinach and cheese, mushrooms and meat, meat, and onions, etc. Basically, as long as the dough is the traditional ravioli dough and the making is the traditional ravioli making, the filling won’t change the type of pasta.
Agnolotti doesn’t have a traditional filling like ravioli – the filling is a non-issue with this pasta type. Agnolotti has a less standard filling, but they are often filled with minced or ground meat. You can fill them with your favorite ingredients, as the dough is very adaptable to various flavors.
Taste
When discussing the taste of pasta pockets, we must consider why they are filled. The purpose of having a pasta pocket instead of plain pasta is for the filling to shape the taste. Therefore, agnolotti and ravioli get their flavor from the filling, and each variety tastes differently depending on what they have been filled with.
However, they do have their signature flavors due to the standardization of the dough. Plain ravioli taste just like any pasta would. The same dough can be used for spaghetti, for example, and in itself, ravioli taste like any sauceless pasta.
Since the agnolotti dough is a bit fattier due to the milk and olive oil, they taste somewhat fuller and slightly richer. Again, its flavor is mostly determined by its filling. The ravioli and agnolotti doughs taste very similar to one another, and the taste would be best described as classic pasta flavor.
Preparation
Angolotti and ravioli are cooked the same way but have different preparation processes. To make agnolotti, you cut the dough before adding the filling. Each piece of dough is gently rolled with a rolling pin to make it smoother and flatter. Each piece of dough has a filling on it and is then folded over the filling and finger-sealed.
Ravioli go through a slightly different preparation process. There are two individual stripes of dough, one of which holds the filling, and the other covers it. Once you place both dough stripes where they should be, gently roll the top stripe with a ravioli rolling pin.
The rolling is optional, but it is frequently done to remove excess air from the ravioli pocket. The next step is cutting the ravioli into individual pieces and sealing the edges by pressing them with a fork.
Once done, ravioli and agnolotti are cooked the same way, i.e., by boiling. The water needs to contain a bit of salt and boil before adding the ravioli/agnolotti. The cooking takes about four to five minutes, after which you need to carefully take the pasta out of the water and place it on a dry towel to dry.
This way, you can combine your ravioli or agnolotti with different sauces or broths.
Uses
Both agnolotti and ravioli are used the same way, so they are often mistaken for each other. They go excellent with tomato-based sauces, cream and cheese sauces, pesto, soups or broths, as well as salads.
Popularity
Although alike and similarly used, ravioli and agnolotti are not as equally popular. Ravioli seem to be the more popular ones, probably due to the fact that they are slightly easier to make. Nevertheless, agnolotti is also popular, but since they are a bit more complicated to make, they seem to lag behind ravioli for just a little bit.
