Baked Toasted Ravioli
This completely homemade, Oven Baked Toasted Ravioli recipe is a lighter take on the St. Louis classic.
Toasted Ravioli: A St. Louis Staple
I grew up with a food called Toasted Ravioli. To me, it was normal. I thought it was as common as Macaroni and Cheese.
Apparently, I was wrong.
While breaded and deep fried ravioli served with marinara sauce is becoming more widely known, a good many people look at me with a strange expression of confusion when I try to explain it to them.
Now, I just shrug and tell them, "It's a St. Louis thing."
What is Toasted Ravioli?
Toasted Ravioli originated in the Italian neighborhood of St. Louis know as "The Hill." (If you've ever been there, you'll know why. I've never seen so many steep hills within city limits in my life.)
Most accounts attribute the creation of this dish to an accident, but isn't that where many great ideas come from?
Just imagine this: warm (meaty or cheesy) filling, surrounded by a layer of pasta, crispy seasoned breadcrumbs and a dusting of Parmesan cheese, all dunked in a bright marinara sauce.
If you've never heard of it, now you have. And, I'm betting, now you want some.
Our Baked Toasted Ravioli Recipe
Well, you're in luck, because today the Sunday Supper crew is sharing hometown recipes, and we're bringing you a completely from scratch way to make this St. Louis staple. Better yet, we're lightening it up so you get the same crispy goodness without the deep-fried belly bomb of grease.
You're welcome!
How to Make Toasted Ravioli
We found a lot of recipes online for how to make toasted ravioli. It's pretty simple in essence. Take ravioli, dip it in egg wash, coat in it breadcrumbs, then fry it or bake it.
But, most recipes call for store-bought, frozen ravioli.
That's all well and good, and we've written up our recipe below so you can choose if you want to make your own ravioli using our homemade ravioli recipe, or grab some store bought raviolis to make these baked toasted ravioli got a bit quicker.
But, honestly, ravioli are so much fun and relatively simple to make from scratch, that it's almost not worth heading to the store for a bag of ravioli. You probably have most of the ingredients in your kitchen already, and, isn't it just way more fun to say you made ravioli from scratch?
So, why not?
As a side note, St. Louis actually has a lot of unique food traditions. You can read a nice compilation of them here thanks to Wikipedia. I'm thinking this is the start of a mission to re-create them all. Stay tuned!
Oven Toasted Ravioli
Ingredients
- ¾ c bread crumbs
- ¼ c whole wheat flour
- ¼ c (1 oz) Parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 teaspoon basil
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon parsley
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon skim milk
- 30 frozen ravioli
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400F. Place a greased wire rack on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet.
- In a small bowl, combine breadcrumbs, wheat flour, grated Parmesan cheese, and spices.
- In another small bowl, lightly beat together egg and milk.
- Dip the frozen ravioli first in the egg mixture and then in the breading, pressing the breading lightly into the ravioli to coat.
- Place breaded ravioli on the greased rack and continue until all the ravioli has been coated.
- Bake ravioli for 15-20 minutes, until puffy and golden.
- Serve with homemade marinara sauce.
To store
- Freeze breaded ravioli in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheets for 30 minutes. Transfer frozen ravioli to an air-tight bag or container and store in the freezer for up to 6 months. Bake as directed above from frozen.
Nutrition
We'd love to hear what food represents your hometown. Leave us a comment and shout out to the food traditions that hail from your town.
And, be sure to take a look at the rest of the Sunday Supper crew's tributes to their hometowns. (Can you guess the town by just the title?) Thanks to Coleen of The Redhead Baker for hosting this weekend's event.
Breakfast
- Alamo City Breakfast Tacos by The Weekend Gourmet
- New York Style Bagels by The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen
Appetizers and Snacks
- South Jersey Boardwalk Popcorn by Take A Bite Out of Boca
Main Dishes
- Chicken and Dumplings by Food Lust People Love
- Crockpot Cincinnati Chili by Palatable Pastime
- Hot Brown Ham Sliders by A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
- New England Beans and Cod by Cooking Chat
- Philadelphia Tomato Pie by The Redhead Baker
- Pierogies by Hezzi D's Books and Cooks
- Portobello "Philly Cheese Steak" by PancakeWarriors
- Revved-up Poutine by Jane's Adventures in Dinner
- San Francisco Cioppino by Eat, Drink and be Tracy
- Seattle-Style Dungeness Crab Roll by Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen
- Tex-Mex Cheese Enchiladas with Chile con Carne by The Texan New Yorker
- Upper Peninsula Pasties by Recipes Food and Cooking
- Victory Pig Sicilian Style Pizza by Rants From My Crazy Kitchen
- Xiang La Tu Zi // Hot & Spicy Rabbit by Curried Canteloupe
Desserts
- Chocolate Earthquake Cake by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Mile High Strawberry Pie by Cindy's Recipes and Writings
- Pear Parkin by Happy Baking Days
- Vernors Cake by Country Girl in the Village
Sarah founded Curious in 2010 as a way to save her recipe creations and share culinary experiences. Her love for cultural cuisines was instilled early by her French Canadian Grandmother. Her experience in the kitchen and in recipe development comes from over 10 years working in professional kitchens. She has traveled extensively and enjoys bringing the flavors of her travels back to create easy-to-make recipes.
I always wanted to try fried ravioli. Thanks for a cool recipe!
I've had it but now I want it with homemade your ravioli's!
What a brilliant Idea. I've never heard of raviolis this way! The look, and I'm sure tasting amazing!
Great choice. Thanks for sharing your hometown with us.
Glad to see you used homemade ravioli for this dish instead of the frozen variety. Also, you talk about hills in your city. Have you ever been to San Francisco?
We haven't, but it's a city I'd love to see some day!
I feel like I should have been able to guess St Louis at your hometown based on the recipe, I should have known this bit of food trivia! I drew a blank though. These look outstanding! I tried breaded ravioli for the first time about 5-6 years ago and it was such a revelation for me - so good!!
This has been such a fun theme, to guess all the town and food associations! Some of them you'd never know!
I love that you made these ravioli's from scratch! I have yet to try that, we have toasted ravioli's here in New England as appetizers in a lot of places, I LOVE your recipe!
I'm glad to hear Toasted Ravioli are making their way around the country. They're too good just to keep in the Midwest!
I could totally make a meal of these. Yum!!
My husband misses toasted ravioli so much, we've had SO many failures in different places, they just don't get it. I LOVE that yours are veggie, I can never eat them when we go out in STL .. which might be fine because he never wants to share anyway.
It's so true though, some places just miss the boat when it comes to toasted ravioli. You'd think they'd be simple, particularly when done restaurant-style. But, there is an art!
Gotta try these delicious toasted raviolis! They look wonderful!
I never knew this was a St Louie specialty! I love these!!! Yummy!!
My one and only attempt at homemade ravioli was less than stellar. You've inspired me to try again---and maybe a few will get toasted, too 🙂 Delicious!!!
Good luck with your ravioli! Let us know how they turn out!
I love tasted ravioli. The crispy pasta and coating, the cheese goodness in the filling all dipped in delicious marinara. YUM! I'll be making these for sure.
I only had an order of toasted ravioli very recently, and it was sooo good! I need to make your version at home!
Oh yes, now that I've heard of it I definitely want some.
I'm glad to spread the craving!