Conte's Pasta Cheese Ravioli

Conte's Pasta Cheese Ravioli
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

The allure of pasta certainly has made individuals in the world of Italian food and related genres get rather creative in the past several centuries and one of the more appealing types of pasta is probably ravioli as it is much more than a simple tube or flat piece of pasta. 

 Given the significant reliance on wheat flour for the standard pasta recipe, finding gluten-free versions generally has one looking for corn pasta or rice pasta (or even a combination of the two), it's quite difficult to find pasta that doesn't have an overwhelmingly different sort of taste overall from wheat flour style pasta.

Often people who must search for wheat-free or gluten-free pasta will have to settle with a type of food that has the general consistency of regular pasta, but does taste quite different. And this influences a number of decisions for meals that aren't just plain pasta. Choosing the right cheese and sauce for a standard pasta dish often requires a little creativity as does the general method of which someone must cook alternative pasta selections.

Conte's Pasta Cheese Ravioli
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

The calories and fat in this pasta are around what one would expect of pasta and not only is the pasta labeled as "all natural," but it's also got a fairly respectable level of sodium. Often gluten-free items and pasta dishes in particular will go a little overboard with the salt shaker, but this doesn't seem to be the case here.

Regarding Conte's Pasta Cheese Ravioli, the company has definitely appealed to the general need for a complex type of pasta and their recipe certainly has some successes, but it also has some elements which reduce the overall enjoyment of the pasta, depending on what choices might be made for sauce and other toppings.

The simple visceral pleasure of a piece of ravioli is a fairly attractive part of eating a piece of ravioli and the consistency of this particular type of pasta is one of its best attributes even if it does seem to be rather fragile at times. 

Conte's Pasta Cheese Ravioli
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

It's recommended that taking the pasta from the pot when it has finished cooking is done with a very delicate hand. Dumping the ravioli into a strainer will net you with a number of broken ravioli.

The cheese inside the ravioli, arguably one of its most important elements, could use a small amount of work regarding the classic taste of a ricotta interior although it's possible that the company who created the recipe for this ravioli was aiming for an extremely allergy-friendly type of dish. But this is the primary issue with the pasta in that it is a very plain base for the overall meal.

Depending on the type of marinara or tomato sauce that's used, the meal could be somewhat less flavorful than one might expect of a traditional ravioli dish. It is admirable that Conte's has crafted a type of ravioli that offers the right sort of consistency for such a pasta creation, but that doesn't mean that the recipe itself should be quite so plain.

Conte's Pasta Cheese Ravioli
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

Conte's Pasta Cheese Ravioli Report Card

The Good Stuff:

There are many types of pasta out there right now that come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and for pasta that doesn't have any sort of adornment such as macaroni or spaghetti, it's usually not hard to find examples that are made from a variety of ingredients such as rice or corn. Each type of pasta seems to offer a specific type of strength and consistency when cooked and topped with things like cheese or sauce.

Conte's Pasta Cheese Ravioli
Photograph Copyright 2012 by Kelsey Wyatt

But ravioli is a different sort of beast as it requires a bit more consideration regarding the actual architecture of the food. Conte's has definitely created a type of ravioli that satisfies the requirement of a pasta that won't fall apart in a pot because it's missing that all-important "glue" from wheat gluten.

What Could Improve:

This pasta is quite plain and while this could have been Conte's attempt to make the pasta as palatable for people with allergies as possible, it does make for a rather plain version of the pasta. The addition of a few herbs and spices could really plump up the taste without requiring the addition of specifically flavorful pasta sauce or marinara to spice things up.