Ravioli al Ragù di Maiale

Ravioli al Ragù di Maiale is a traditional Umbrian pasta dish featuring handmade ravioli filled with seasoned ricotta and herbs, served with a slow-cooked pork ragù. Its origins lie in central Italy’s cucina povera, where pork long served as a staple. Key ingredients include delicate pasta dough, a creamy ricotta-based filling, and a ragù made from pork shoulder or belly slow-simmered with tomatoes, red wine, garlic, and rosemary. What distinguishes a great version is the harmony of textures: silky pasta, luscious filling, and a deeply savory, glossy sauce, often finished with aged Pecorino Romano.

Regional variations appear across Umbria and Tuscany. Some cooks add milk or nutmeg to the filling; others substitute wild boar or a pork-and-beef mix for the ragù. In the hilltop town of Montefalco, Ristorante da Giorgio serves a celebrated version praised by food enthusiast Habemus Fame, who highlights the kitchen’s mastery of local tradition. There, as noted by both Habemus Fame and JustUs, the ravioli are made fresh daily and the ragù is simmered for hours with a generous pour of the region’s robust Sagrantino wine, yielding a dish that is distinctly comforting and unmistakably Umbrian.