How to Use a Ravioli Mold

A ravioli mold looks like it belongs to a nonna with endless patience. In reality, it’s one of the easiest ways to make filled pasta that looks like you fussed for hours: lay a sheet, fill, roll, and the carved pattern does the rest. For this reason, it's quickly become one of my favorite ways to feed a crowd.

Still, as with any pasta shape, there are tricky nuances to making ravioli from a mold: pasta that sticks, ravioli that bear only a faint imprint of the pattern you were hoping for, or worse – they explode in the pot (yikes!). 

For this guide, we turned to Emilie Pullar of The Burnt Butter Table, who has churned out dozens of these ravioli on her Instagram feed – always with a gorgeous set of long, manicured nails (how she does it I just don’t know, but I’ve got serious nail envy). Once you’ve read her tips, try them out with her Pesto-Ricotta Filled Raviolo with Brown Butter, Crispy Sage & Walnuts.

New this season: our ravioli mold collection has grown. Our new Leonardi molds are carved from beechwood in Trentino, Italy, and press a pattern into every raviolo:

• Raviolone Mold for one big, show-stopping raviolo
• Ravioli Tablet for six matching ravioli per press
• Raviolini Tablet for fifteen little raviolini at once

The tips below work for all of them, as well as our original Reversible Wooden Ravioli Mold, made with woodworker John Francis Designs.

• A ravioli mold or tablet
• Fresh egg pasta dough (we like our dough recipe for ravioli)
• A smooth filling, chilled
• 00 flour for dusting
• A pasta machine, like the Marcato Atlas 150
• A piping bag (or a zip-top bag with the corner snipped)
• A dry pastry brush and a teaspoon
• A small rolling pin, like our Mattarellino
• A knife, pizza cutter or fluted pasta wheel for trimming

• Keep it smooth. Make sure there aren’t any clumps or chunky ingredients, which can get stuck as the filling comes out of your piping bag. A food processor helps.
• Pipe, don’t spoon. Transfer your filling to a piping bag or zip-top bag. It’s easier and quicker than using a spoon.
• Not sure what to use? Ricotta and grated Parmigiano Reggiano is always a good choice. Add spinach, mushrooms or even pesto. Just drain as much liquid as possible from any vegetables and blend everything until smooth.
• Chill it. Refrigerate the filling for at least 30 minutes. It’s easier to pipe, and the ravioli are easier to move around.

• Use some whole eggs. An all-yolk dough is rich and decadent, but it’s not as pliable. For ravioli (and any shape you need to stretch and fold), include a few whole eggs: the whites add water and, with it, stretch. Here’s our go-to dough recipe for ravioli.
• Roll to the right thickness. On a KitchenAid roller or Marcato Atlas 150, we like setting 7. You’ll have two layers, top and bottom, so you don’t want it too thick, but it needs to be thick enough to stretch into the mold.

1. Cut your sheets. Cut the pasta into pieces just bigger than the mold (or tablet). A little overhang helps the ravioli fill every bit of the mold.
2. Dust and lay the first sheet. Brush one piece with 00 flour and place it flour-side down on the mold. It needs enough flour not to stick, but not so much that it fills the grooves and blurs the pattern.
3. Press the wells. Use a dry pastry brush to gently press the dough into the cavities where the filling will go.
4. Fill. Pipe filling into the center of each well, then press and smooth it with a teaspoon so it’s level with the top of the mold.
5. Top and roll. Lay the second sheet on top and press lightly with your hands. Roll firmly with a rolling pin, then flip and press down hard with your hands so the pattern imprints onto the pasta.
6. Release. Peel the ravioli off the mold. If they stick, flip the mold upside down and tap the back a few times with your rolling pin until they fall out. (Next time, dust the first sheet with a little more flour.)
7. Trim. Cut off the edges with a knife or pizza cutter. On a tablet, separate the ravioli along the ridges. For a decorative edge, use a fluted pasta wheel.

• Dough feels sticky? Sprinkle it with a very light dusting of 00 flour as you roll it out.
• Edges won’t seal? The dough is too dry. Mist the edges with a little water from a fine-mist spray bottle.
• Pattern looks blurry? Use less flour on the first sheet so it doesn’t fill in the carving.

• Pesto-Ricotta Filled Raviolo with Brown Butter, Crispy Sage & Walnuts: made for the Raviolone Mold
• Three-Cheese Beetroot Ravioli with Figs, Walnuts & Thyme: written for a ravioli tablet
• Mashed Potato Agnolotti in Garlic-Shallot Broth: the filling works beautifully as raviolini

Ready to get started? Shop our Leonardi molds, the Raviolone Mold, Ravioli Tablet and Raviolini Tablet, or our Reversible Wooden Ravioli Mold.