Holding Ravioli?

[KYHeirloomer]

How do you hold ravioli that you're going to serve to a crowd?

I've tried making it, and holding it raw until just before cooking, and that didn't work. And I've tried cooking it and holding it in the sauce it will be served in, and that didn't work.

Anybody got any clues?

[Pete]

I make them and freeze them raw. Make them and place them in the freezer, in a single layer. Once frozen you can put them in a bag for storage. Then drop them in the water, to cook, just before serving. It only takes a minute or so longer to cook, from the frozen state.

[even stephen]

Make it, Blanch it in salted boiling water, shock it in ice water, toss
with a little olive oil and reheat in batches, in the sauce or using water
again. Some people prefer to forego the shocking and opt for chilling
it on sheet pans, as to not lose the starch content on pasta surface.
Regardless it will drop the quality a little bit. But its better than no pasta
at all.

[Steve A]

I've done exactly as Pete mentions in many restaurants.

Drop them in simmering or boiling water to bring back to temp. You'll know when they're ready, they'll float.

Ciao,

[Blueicus]

No arguments from the pros above, we do that at our place as well.

[shel]

I've done what Pete's suggested numerous times, and it's worked out great. The nice thing about freezing the ravioli is that you can make 'em several days ahead of time, maybe evn a lot longer. I've frozen fresh ravioli for about a week and the cooked results were just fine.

I don't see a need for blanching, dipping them in ice water, coating them with olive oil, or doing anything more complicated or time consuming, although I suspect those techniques will work just fine as well.

Shel