- This flexible ravioli filling works with many different kinds of ground meat, making it a great way to use up what you’ve got in the refrigerator or freezer.
- The filling gets added flavor and richness from finely chopped prosciutto and mortadella.
- It’s paired with a ravioli pasta recipe that includes instructions for making, shaping, and stuffing.
Cookbook author Domenica Marchetti, an expert in Italian cooking, shares a choose-your-own-adventure recipe for meaty ravioli filling that adapts to whatever you have on hand. You can use ground pork, veal, turkey, or chicken — or even a combination of all four — accented with mortadella and salty prosciutto. Use it to stuff Marchetti’s easy ravioli recipe.
Why pre-cook the pasta filling?
Homemade pasta cooks quickly and might be perfectly al dente before any raw meat in the filling is safe to eat. But pre-cooking the meat filling before stuffing your ravioli also adds flavor — and makes for a better texture, since it helps release some of the liquid. Here, the ground beef is sauteed in butter with garlic and onion before adding a splash of dry white wine. For the ideal consistency, Marchetti pulses the mixture in a food processor, then stirs in grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, finely chopped mortadella and prosciutto, a pinch of nutmeg, and a beaten egg to hold it all together.
Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen
- Marchetti developed this recipe to use with her easy ravioli, along with four-cheese and carrot-and-ricotta filling options.
- She recommends serving the ravioli in tomato sauce or in butter with fresh-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.
