Pear Ravioli Season
November is pear season, and that got us thinking about how to incorporate this fruit into our menu. We already planned to bring back our Pear + Gorgonzola salad, but then an idea struck us: Pear Ravioli.
This concept may sound unusual, but it was inspired by our family’s favorite dish at a little trattoria in Florence called Ciro & Sons: their unique pear tortellini. We’ve never seen anything like it anywhere else.
Determined to craft our own version, we headed to the kitchen and started experimenting.
The conversation between myself (G.), my brother (Christian), and my father (Pepe) went something like this:
Pepe: How would you even make pear ravioli?
G: Just add pear + pecorino to our ricotta ravioli base.
Christian: Pears are gritty. Add mascarpone instead of ricotta to make it smoother.
G: I think you can just grate fresh pears.
Pepe: Nope. Too thin. Try cooking the pears on the stove.
G: What if we baked them in the oven?
Pepe: Much better. Do you have to peel them first?
G: Yes.
Christian: What sauce?
G: Pear Sauce.
Pepe: Fontina Sauce.
G: Ok, yes.
Christian: Add balsamic.
G: Can we get away with no cheese on top?
Christian: No.
G: Ok, fine. Tuscan Pecorino?
Christian: Roman.
Pepe: This might be the best thing on the menu…
So, that’s how our pear ravioli came to be. First, we peel and bake the pears, then mash them, combine them with mascarpone and Tuscan pecorino, and turn them into ravioli. We serve them with our fontina cream sauce, a drizzle of balsamic, and finally, we top them with more pecorino, this time of the Roman variety.
These ravioli are sweet, cheesy, and tangy. We hope you’ll come in and try them before pear season is over.
