Think Beyond Meat And Cheese For Rich Ravioli Fillings

Ravioli is one of the most comforting types of pasta, its soft pouches bursting with rich fillings. Popular premade ravioli offered at the grocery store tends to fall under two categories: meat and cheese. But, if you're tired of ricotta and ground beef or veal ravioli, we've gotten insight from a pasta expert to broaden your filling horizons. Tasting Table interviewed Jasper J. Mirabile Jr., owner and chef at the Italian Jasper's Restaurant in Kansas City and host of "Live! From Jasper's Kitchen Radio," who features fresh and toasted ravioli on his menu.

Meat and cheese ravioli fillings may be the most widespread, but they exclude a growing population of plant-based, dairy-free eaters. Chef Mirabile addresses this issue head on, saying, "There are so many plant-based alternatives to meat and cheese for ravioli, including sauteed mushrooms, roasted butternut squash, spinach, and nuts, pumpkins with a little bit of sage, caramelize, onions, and artichokes and a vegan pesto without the cheese."

Mushrooms are a great umami-rich swap for ragu-style meat fillings, offering a hearty chew and taking a fraction of the time to make. Roasted butternut squash and other root vegetables like sweet potatoes are the savory, creamy answer to cheese-filled ravioli. Roasting concentrates their flavors and caramelizes their sugars.

Chef Mirabile argues that many plant-based ravioli fillings are "delicious and very authentic." For example, the classic Italian ravioli Mantovani recipe features pumpkin and a hint of sweet almond-flavored amaretto, served smothered in a sage-infused sauce.

You can combine various ingredients on Jasper J. Mirabile Jr.'s list of plant-based fillings for even more textural and flavorful complexity. For example, a filling of diced portobello mushrooms sauteed with chopped walnuts and spinach gives a savory trifecta of umami, nutty, and earthy flavors. Spinach, artichokes, and caramelized onions would be a lighter combination with a sweet and savory balance you could bind with a dairy-free cream cheese substitute like tofu.

While many tomato-based pasta sauces like pomodoro and marinara are dairy and meat free, there are adjustments you can make to sauces defined by the presence of cream, eggs, or cheese. Chef Mirabile himself recommends "a vegan pesto without the cheese," which you can swap for nutritional yeast for that cheesy flavor. To create a vegan cheesy, creamy cacio e pepe or Alfredo sauce, a blend of water-soaked cashews, garlic, lemon, and nutritional yeast would do the trick.

Mushroom ravioli is delicious with that kind of sharp, cheesy and peppery sauce or a bright and herbaceous vegan pesto. A sweeter squash or pumpkin ravioli works well with a simpler vegan sage and butter sauce using your favorite vegan butter brand. To make our butternut squash ravioli recipe completely plant based, you'll need to swap out the butter and parmesan with vegan varieties, and use a vegan pasta recipe with water and olive oil instead of eggs.