Homemade Toasted Ravioli
Toasted Ravioli is a St. Louis favorite and a wonderful appetizer originating from “The Hill” Italian district in St. Louis.
Why Toasted Ravioli?
I was introduced to this dish when I started flight school in St. Louis for the airlines. Being stuck in an extended stay during a 121 program for a few months led me to do some culinary exploration. It turns out that St. Louis is known for more than just BBQ and blues. There are two other foods that are not-yet-famous but should be. Imo’s Pizza and Toasted Ravioli.
It might not be that obvious, but if you take a moment and look, you will see that nearly every restaurant in St. Louis has toasted ravioli somewhere on its menu. Someone in St. Louis figured out how to take a pasta dish and turn it into a finger food. Brilliant! The rest of the country has something to gain by paying attention …
I spent some time learning how to make this meal/appetizer and am going to show you what I learned:
Recipe
A beautiful finger food that makes a wonderful appetizer.
15 minPrep Time
10 minCook Time
25 minTotal Time
Yields 1 package
Ingredients
- Ravioli (thawed, or fresh)
- 1 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups Italian bread crumbs
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- vegetable oil
- Parmesan cheese
- marinara sauce
Instructions
- If you have frozen ravioli, place it in the fridge overnight so that if thaws.
- Mix the eggs and buttermilk together and in a separate bowl or plate combine the spices and breadcrumbs.
- Dip the ravioli in the liquid bowl. Then dip it in the breadcrumbs so that each ravioli is coated with breadcrumbs.
- On your stove, heat a large pan or pot with a couple inches of oil. When hot, place the ravioli in the oil frying them for 3-5 minutes per side. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels.
- When done, serve the hot ravioli on a dish sprinkled with parmesan cheese and any other herbs you would like for decoration next to hot marinara.
Toasted Ravioli Instructions
Basically, the ravioli is baked (or fried) after it is breaded. In this recipe, we did not par-bake the ravioli, but it would be fine to just touch it in hot water for several seconds. I’ll comment on how the actual ravioli’s cooked below and this comment will make more sense.
If you have frozen ravioli, place it in the fridge overnight so that if thaws. Mix the eggs and buttermilk together. Dip the thawed ravioli in the liquid fully coating it.
In a separate bowl or plate, combine the spices and breadcrumbs. Drag the wet ravioli through the breadcrumbs so that each ravioli is coated.
On your stove, heat a large pan or pot with a couple inches of oil. When hot, place the ravioli in the oil frying them for 3-5 minutes per side. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. This is a good tip: lower temperatures did a better job at cooking the ravioli than high temperatures. High temperatures would be fine if the ravioli were parboiled.
When cooked, drain on paper towels. Serve the hot ravioli on a dish sprinkled with parmesan cheese and any other herbs you would like for decoration next to hot marinara.
We used our homemade marinara from our garden last year as the dipping sauce.
Try our other Finger Foods and Appetizers
- Pheasant Poppers
- Corn Fried Corncobs
- Homemade Jalapeno Corn Dogs
- Jalapeno Poppers
- Waffles on a Stick
- Fried Zucchini Fries
- Asparagus Fries
Try our other homemade recipes
- 321 Ribs Recipe
- Smoked Turkey Breast
- Homemade Irish Cream
- Preserved Lemon Chicken
- Red Wine Roast Beef Recipe
- Making a Classic Bechamel Sauce Recipe
- How to Make Homemade Maple Syrup