Get tuffed: ravioli come of age

Nutrition Action Healthletter, May, 2004 by Jayne Hurley, Bonnie Liebman

having a few (or more than a few) people for dinner? These days, at least one is likely to be a vegetarian. Assuming you want to stick with your favorite salmon, turkey, or chicken recipe for most of your guests, what can you offer the herbivores?

If you've got time to boil water, you're minutes away from a piping hot bowl of ravioli or tortellini that may leave you with some leftover fish or poultry for tomorrow. If the last time you bought stuffed pasta the choice boiled down to Chef Boyardee or Chef Boyardee, it's time to branch out.

Pick the wrong ravioli or tortellini and those petite pockets of pasta won't be the only things that get stuffed.

An ordinary cheese ravioli or tortellini (or the larger tortelloni) has four to six grams of saturated fat in a modest, one-cup serving. And a few, like Buitoni Four Cheese, cram nearly half a day's artery glue and a quarter of a day's sodium into your arteries, assuming you add no sauce.

Thankfully, there are plenty of right raviolis, tortellinis, etc. We found dozens that met our criteria for a Best Bite: no more than two grains of saturated fat and 480 milligrams of sodium per serving. Granted, many are smaller brands that you may find only at a natural food store like Whole Foods. But the national brands like Buitoni also have some winners.

Just Cheese

Celentano sells three Best Bites--Round, Mini Rounds, and Light Round--that are perfectly acceptable with a good sauce. Their (mostly) ricotta cheese filling isn't what you'd call exciting, but it's no less thrilling than the equally bland ricotta in rattier competitors. In contrast, the mozzarella, Parmesan, and Romano in DiGiorno Reduced Fat Cheese Ravioli, which just missed a Best Bite, give it a richness that ricotta can't touch.

Best Bite tortellinis or tortellonis like DiGiorno Three Cheese won't knock your taste buds off. But like ricotta-based ravioli, they (and near-Best Bites like Rosetto Cheese) don't taste much different than their rattier cousins.

When it comes to uninspired mostly-ricotta fillings, the tough part is finding a pasta sauce that won't send your blood pressure into orbit. The solution? Make your own simple low-sodium ravioli topper: mix some chopped fresh tomato and garlic with extra virgin olive oil and let sit for a half hour or so while you're preparing the salad.

Cheese and Vegetables

Here's where it gets interesting. None of these pastas are stuffed with anywhere near a serving of vegetables, but the veggies add a spark thai cheese-only pastas lack. What's more, some brands replace dull-as-a-doorknob ricotta with more interesting mozzarella or--for a nice zing--gorgonzola, feta, or Gruyere cheese. Here are some of our favorites.

* Black Beans. Never thought you'd find black beans in your ravioli? Putney Pasta mixes them with habanero peppers. Top with salsa and you'll never even notice that there's no cheese inside. Or pick up Pasta Fresca, which comes with the salsa built in.

* Mushrooms. You're going to love Buitoni Portabello Mushroom & Cheese Tortelloni (at major supermarket chains) or, better yet, Putney Pasta Mushrooms and Imported Gruyere Tortellini (at natural food stores). Both will appeal to a wider audience than Putney Pasta Wild Mushroom and Roasted Garlic Ravioli or Rising Moon Wild Chanterelle Mushroom Ravioli or Trader Joe's (somewhat bland) Portabella Mushroom Jumbo Ravioli.

* Spinach. You can't beat Pasta Prima Spinach & Mozzarella Ravioli, sold nationwide at Costco supermarkets. They taste like someone just finished stuffing garlic, fresh spinach, and mozzarella inside (even though you just pulled the re-sealable bag out of the freezer). Add a shake from the enclosed packet of Italian Herb Cheese Sauce Mix if you want extra flavor (it's mostly grated Parmesan and Roinano cheese, so go easy). Since Pasta Prima doesn't need spaghetti sauce, you can pair it with almost any dish. Putney Pasta makes a darn good Spinach and Feta Ravioli. Both brands beat our spinach-and-ricotta Best Bites hands down.

* Squash. If your taste buds need a wake-up call, Putney Pasta Butternut Squash and Vermont Maple Syrup Ravioli will deliver it. Like the squash filling in Rising Moon Feta Hazelnut Ravioli, Putney's sweetness is a welcome departure from the traditional Italian tomato-and-cheese palette. Cafferata Squash By Gosh, on the other hand, may have too strong a nutmeg flavor for some people. If you need something on top of your squash ravioli, try a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of chopped fresh sage leaves.

* Sun-Dried Tomato. One bite of Buitoni Sun Dried Tomato Tortelloni and you'll wonder why anyone bothers with plain cheese-stuffed pasta. Near-Best Bite Cafferata Sunny and Cheese came in a distant second. If you need to dress them up, try some chopped tomato and fresh basil.

* Artichoke. Trader Giotto's Artichoke just missed a Best Bite, but if you like the taste of freshly cooked artichokes, it's the only place to be. Cafferata Oki Doki Artichoke tasted more like lemony mashed potatoes than artichokes.