Carnival Italian Sweet Ricotta Ravioli, a pocket full of goodness! A delightful pastry shell hosting a creamy lightly sweetened ricotta filling with wonderful morsels of dark chocolate, cinnamon, and Grand Marnier.
Memories from my childhood
When I was a child, in Italy, Carnival arrived to break the dullness of winter, my least favorite season. It brought color and joy, spring temperatures and bright skies, masquerades, confetti, and lots of powdered sugar, the trait-d'union of all Carnival sweets.
All the Carnival sweets
There were recurrent sweets my mother would make, like Frappe (in other Italian Regions called Chiacchiere, or Crostoli), Castagnole, and the beloved Ravioli dolci di Ricotta, Ricotta Sweet Ravioli. While, for the majority, all the Carnival sweets are deep fried and then covered in powdered sugar, the Ravioli that my mother makes are rigorously oven-baked. When she wasn't making homemade Carnival sweets, we would buy them from bakeries and pastry shops, to bring to school on Giovedì Grasso (Fat Thursday) and Martedì Grasso (Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday) or to parties at friends' houses. I loved all that rich deliciousness, the crunchiness of the Frappe, the crumbly or soft (according to the recipe) Castagnole, the ricotta and chocolate filled Ravioli. I always closed my eyes in deep pleasure, the powdered sugar spotting my clothes and leaving a white smear on my lips and nose. During Carneval, I also loved to dress up in costumes: I've been a little fairy, Little Red Riding Hood, a Spanish Flamenco dancer, a Native queen, a Renaissance Lady, and many others.
Carnevale
You might be familiar with the most popular Carnevale di Venezia (Venetian Carnival), with its beautiful masks and costumes, but everywhere in Italy, this time of the year, there are celebrations, festivals, masquerades, lavish eating and parades of Carnival floats. It all ends on Fat Tuesday, the last day of Carnival, then, on Ash Wednesday, Lent starts. It all makes sense that in the days before Lent, a season of sorrowful reflections, fast and abstinence from indulgent food, it is an indulgence, and explosion of partying and sumptuous eating.
Last year I was in Rome, and I got to eat my mother's Carnival sweets, this year I am in Canada, and I get to show my husband and some friends, how we celebrate Carnival in Italy. It started with the usual morning call to my mother to ask for her recipe and after a bit of nervousness, adaptation, and patience, it ended up with these amazing Sweet Ricotta Ravioli.
My mom's recipe for Carnival Italian Sweet Ricotta Ravioli
If you're not familiar with Italian mother's or grandmother's baking, it is never based on precise quantity, but it is mostly a "feeling" by touch, memory, routine. So, her recipe, hand written on a cute, old, exercise book, went something like that: "on a wood board (spianatoia, in Italian) put the flour in a circle, and make a bowl in the center, then in the middle crack 3 eggs, 2 tazzine (espresso cups) between butter and oil, 1 tazzina of milk, 2 spoons of sugar, the juice of half a lemon. For the filling: ricotta, sugar, rum liquor, zest of a lemon, cinnamon, chocolate, egg. Brush some milk on top of the ravioli before the oven, then, bake for about 20 minutes".
Translating old recipes
The stressful part was to "translate" my mother's recipe into exact (more or less) ingredient quantities, oven temperature and baking time.
There was no flour quantity, no quantities for the filling, no instructions on how to proceed and no oven temperature. When I asked about the flour, her answer was "quanta se ne prende", as much as it takes, that is, in typical Italian fashion, you keep adding flour to the mixture until you "feel" by hand, and touch, that it reaches the right consistency. The quantities of the filling were completely vague, and when I asked about the oven temperature, the answer was vague, as well: "you know, not too high, I'd say moderate, better lower than higher".
Making Carnival Italian Sweet Ricotta Ravioli
In the end, I think I did a pretty good job remaking her recipe, with the help of Loreto, my assistant for the day. You can choose the shape of the ravioli: square, rectangular, triangular, round, or if you're a traditionalist like me, half moon, mezza luna, like I've always done with my mother. This helps me keep the memories of Carnevale intact. And as they say,
remember where you came from because it tells you where you are and where you want to go.
,
Eating these Carnival Sweet Ricotta Ravioli, transported me right away to our kitchen in Rome, where I remember helping my mother mixing the ricotta filling, while secretly eating little spoonfuls of it. Here, with Loreto, we made sure that the filling was good for sweetness, and it was a lot of fun making the ravioli.
A family activity
This is a great recipe to do with a few people, or kids, as it is a multiple step process from the rolling of the dough, to the cutting of the circles, to placing the filling, making the half round, Loreto's favorite part, sealing the edges with a fork, and finally the brushing of milk on top.
A bite into these, and you cannot but smile. The tenderness of the pastry as it melts into the creamy, semi-sweet ricotta and hints of Grand Marnier, has your mouth singing the song Mmmmm. The kid in you comes out as those morsels of chocolate melt on your tongue, and you awaken to the sad fact that this Carnival treat is done. No worries there is more, lol. There is a bit of liqueur inside, but you can omit it.
Only one week is left before Carnival ends, and tomorrow is Giovedì Grasso (Fat Thursday). Bake some Carnival sweets for your dear ones, spread some confetti in the house, turn up the music, dance, and be merry.
PrintCarnival Italian Sweet Ricotta Ravioli
Carnival Italian Sweet Ricotta Ravioli, a pocket full of goodness! A delightful pastry shell hosting a creamy lightly sweetened ricotta filling with wonderful morsels of dark chocolate, cinnamon, and Grand Marnier.
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: about 25-30 ravioli 1x
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 50 g vegetable oil (we used sunflower oil)
- 45 g butter, melted
- 50 g milk
- the zest of ½ lemon
- 340 g flour 00 or all-purpose, sifted, plus more for the board
Filling:
- 300 g ricotta
- 3 Tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp liquor (Rum, Grappa, or Grand Marnier), optional
- ½ lemon, the zest
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 3 Tbsp semi sweet chocolate chips
- milk for brushing the top
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add the sugar and the eggs and mix well. Now add the oil, the melted butter, the milk, the lemon zest. Mix well.
- Start adding the sifted flour a little at a time, kneading with your hands until you feel that the dough is soft, smooth and looks homogeneous.
- Form a ball with the dough and wrap it in plastic. Refrigerate for about half an hour.
- Meanwhile, prepare the ricotta filling and preheat the oven to 340° F (170°C).
- In a medium bowl, add the ricotta, sugar, cinnamon, liqueur, lemon zest. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon or a spatula until you have a smooth and soft cream. Then fold in the chocolate chips, if using.
- Take the dough out of the refrigerator and remove the plastic.
- Dust the work surface with flour, place the center of the dough and roll it out with a rolling pin until obtaining a thinness of about 2 mm.
- Using a cookie cutter, or a glass, cut rounds of dough of about 10 cm.
- Place a teaspoon of ricotta filling in the middle, fold in half and seal the edges with a fork.
- Place the ravioli on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone mat.
- Brush the top with milk.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 20-30 minutes, or until light golden brown.
- Let them cool on a rack, then sprinkle with abundant powdered sugar.
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Sweets
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Italian
I love baking and kneading dough because it takes me to a happy place in my soul.
Isabelle @ Crumb says
I've never seen sweet ravioli before, but that sweet ricotta filling with chocolatey bits sounds positively divine. I'm pretty sure half of it would end up my belly rather than in the dough. 🙂 Adding this to my weekend baking projects, because I can't let carnival pass me by without at least one sweet treat!
Thank you, Isabelle! It is definitely a weekend project, a bit time consuming, but fun to make and so good to eat! I usually add the egg yolk to the ricotta filling, last, because before that it's all tasting spoonful after spoonful 🙂 . Hope you enjoy them!
diversivore says
I love reading this kind of thing. I feel, even if only for a moment, transported into a very different world - and one with amazing food to boot. What more could you want?
The recipe itself looks wonderful - gorgeously crafted and carefully tested. Your mother's notes and comments made me laugh. That is so quintessentially Old World, and it always makes me laugh. I think it was one of David Lebovitz's books where he talked about the difference between French and American recipes for making caramel. An American recipe would give a ton of detail, breaking down all of the steps carefully. The French recipe would say "Make caramel." The idea always makes me laugh. I think the mothers and grandmothers of the world need to remember that we're not all quite so incredibly talented, and that we could use at least a tiny bit more help. Fortunately you're here to bridge the gap.
Ah ah, thank you Sean! See what I have to put up with! ???? Every time I ask my mother for a recipe it's always the same story. But these sweet ravioli turned out pretty good! Means I am a good translator ???? (or a bridge between the old and the new).
Dawn @ Girl Heart Food says
Fat Thursday....that's kinda funny!! Love that these are baked. And love that you shared a special memory through food from your childhood....those are the best! Any kind of citrus and chocolate goes so wonderfully together and I would have a hard time stopping after eating one. Can't wait to give these a try! Pinning! Have a lovely weekend!
Thank you Dawn for leaving such a sweet comment! Memories are so important to us. It's where our love for food started. We devoured the ravioli, they were gone the day after we made them 🙂 . Have a lovely weekend as well!
Stephanie@ApplesforCJ says
This sweet ravioli sounds really good. And even though Italian has always been one of my favorites I've never heard of this. Loved reading your post and hearing how you used to make ravioli with your Mom 🙂
Thank you Stephanie! They are really good, gone so fast ????. They're not amongst the most known sweets outside of Italy, but so worth the time making them.
Julia says
My mother made the St Joseph “cream puffs” every March 19th and also special sweet treats during Christmas Season. She did not make these fantastic sweet ravioli, but did make homemade ravioli as our Easter dinner (and few other times during the year). I make and freeze the “dinner ravioli” for future servings. Do you think that I can make these and freeze before baking? Thanks for your interesting site.
St Joseph's cream puffs are our absolute favorite! So nice that your mom made all the traditional delectable dishes! I have never frozen the sweet ricotta ravioli, but I guess you could. Just freeze them on a tray, don't overlap them, and maybe bake from frozen. Sorry I can't be more useful, in my family we hardly freeze anything 🙂 .
Moriah says
I made these this morning immediately after I found the recipe! They were so light and delicate, not too sweet but just enough. It cured my craving for citrus and chocolate! I used orange zest instead of lemon and coffee rum in the ricotta and they turned out beautifully. The perfect birthday week sweet!!
My mom and I are both happy to hear that! These are the sweets she always made for us. I love that they are not too sweet, and perfect choice the orange zest and the coffee rum! Happy birthday week! Mine is the birthday month 😉 .
Jeanette Zarb says
My mum and I just tried them and we also tried some of them deep fried and they turned out so great. Thank you for sharing, we will definitely be trying them again <3
What a great idea to fry some! I will, too, next time! Thank you for the feedback!
J. Colarossi says
I can’t thank you enough for sharing this recipe. My Italian American grandmother made these every year for Easter. I don’t have recipe anymore and have been searching for it to Blume for months. This was definitely what she made but being a divine tinkerer of recipes I will try to tweak it to her rendition. She loved cardamon and added to the dough. She also added orange peel I believe, citron, candied bits of cherry at times. Little chocolate chips to which melted. I made them with her and it is amazing how she did the exact well and eggs inside, the same, etc. I loved all you wrote because I feel my Italian soul in me. She called them Fiavonnis. Anyway, thank you for sharing images of Carnival for those of us with an Italian soul who have not experienced it. You write beautifully and what you share is so interesting. I’m so grateful to have found you. ❤️ Thank you for recording recipes and your thoughts about them. They will make millions happy. I hope you create a cookbook of all of your recipes on your website. Thank you!
★★★★★
Thank you so much for your lovely comment. It really touched our hearts. Definitely tweak the recipe to make it as you remembered. It will be divine, I'm sure, and more memories will be made.