Stuffed Pasta Recipes: 14 Stuffed Pastas to Try

Stuffed pasta can refer to two different Italian food products: filled pastas made from pasta dough shaped around a filling and then boiled, like ravioli, and hollow pastas designed to be boiled and then filled, like stuffed shells. Popular pasta fillings include Italian cheeses like ricotta, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and Grana Padano; roasted vegetables; and ground meats like Italian sausage and beef. Stuffed pastas can be served in a simple broth or with a variety of sauces, such as marinara, alfredo, and pesto.

You can buy these filled pastas fresh or frozen from specialty Italian markets or the refrigerated section of the grocery store—or you can try your hand at making your own.

Some of these pastas are world-famous, while others are regional specialties.

1. 1. Ravioli: This popular variety entails spooning a meat- or cheese-based filling onto a sheet of pasta and topping it with a second sheet. Then, seal and cut the pasta. You can cut ravioli dough in various shapes, such as squares, crescents, or circles. A bite-size portion of ravioli is known as ravioletti, while raviolo al’ uovo is a larger style featuring a single egg yolk nestled inside. Serve ravioli in a broth or sauce or with a drizzle of brown butter or olive oil.
2. 2. Ravioli gigante: As the name indicates, this filled pasta is the larger sibling of the ravioli. Depending on the size of each individual ravioli, a typical serving may consist of just one to three giant raviolis per person.
3. 3. Tortellini: Tortellini is a type of small, ring-shaped pasta traditionally stuffed with a combination of ground meat (like mortadella and prosciutto), egg, and parmesan cheese, and sealed in a circular fashion. Allegedly modeled after the goddess Venus’s navel, tortellini are typically served in a simple broth or with a meat sauce.
4. 4. Tortelloni: Tortelloni is a stuffed, keyhole-shaped pasta you can make by folding a round piece of dough in half over a filling, twisting the two ends together, and binding the pasta into a circular shape. Italian cooks traditionally stuff this pasta with a vegetarian mixture consisting of ingredients like ricotta cheese, leafy vegetables (like spinach and parsley), crumbled amaretti biscuits, or pumpkin purée, and serve in a sage-infused butter sauce.
5. 5. Agnolotti: Agnolotti originated in the Piedmont region of Italy and consists of a rich, egg-based pasta dough, stuffed with a roasted meat- or vegetable-based filling, folded over, and cut with a ridged pasta cutter into small pieces of pillow-shaped pasta.
6. 6. Conchiglie: This seashell-shaped pasta has ridges on the outside and a large hollow inside, which cooks commonly stuff with a ricotta cheese filling flavored with Parmesan, minced garlic cloves, and fresh basil or fresh parsley. These pasta shells, which come in a variety of sizes, are frequently boiled until al dente, stuffed, and placed in a baking dish layered with hearty marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, and Italian seasoning for a yummy baked pasta dish reminiscent of lasagna.
7. 7. Conchiglioni: These jumbo pasta shells are the larger relative of conchiglie. With their oversized shape, conchiglioni are a great option for a variety of stuffed shell recipes.
8. 8. Manicotti: Manicotti, which translates to “little sleeves” or “little muffs” in Italian, is made out of large, thin, textured tubes of pasta that cooks typically boil, then stuff with a meat or ricotta cheese mixture and bake in a traditional red sauce.
9. 9. Cannelloni: This tube-shaped, cylindrical pasta shape is smooth on the outside—in contrast to the ridged manicotti—and is traditionally boiled before being stuffed with a filling of ricotta and spinach or ground beef and baked in tomato sauce.
10. 10. Cappelletti: This popular pasta of the Emiglia-Romagna region resembles tortellini and is typically stuffed with meat, folded, and pinched together. Cappelletti, which translates to “little hats,” most traditionally appears in a beef or chicken broth.
11. 11. Pansotti: Start this triangle-shaped stuffed pasta with a piece of square pasta, fill it with a mixture of ricotta or cottage cheese, greens, and nutmeg, and fold the pasta in half. Native to the Italian Riviera, pansotti is traditionally served with a walnut pasta sauce known as salsa di noci.
12. 12. Casunziei: Make this crescent-shaped variety of stuffed pasta with super-thin pasta dough and fill it with hearty local produce, such as beets, butternut squash, and turnips. A common pasta of the Veneto region, casunziei is typically tossed in a butter and Parmesan sauce.
13. 13. Fagottini: This pasta, which chefs typically stuff with ricotta and various cooked veggies, like onions and carrots, begins with thin, square pieces of pasta that are folded up at the corners into pyramids. As the name foggottini (“little purses”) suggests, this stuffed pasta resembles small, filled pouches.
14. 14. Mezzelune: Mezzelune, which translates to “half-moons,” are a semicircular type of pasta typically made with a dough consisting of buckwheat flour, durum semolina, olive oil, and eggs. This pierogi-like pasta is commonly filled with a vegetable and ricotta mixture.

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