Ravioli are small Italian pasta pillows stuffed with delicious fillings. Imagine two thin sheets of pasta dough pressed together with something tasty sealed inside: cheese and spinach, ground meat, butternut squash, or even lobster. The edges get crimped shut so the filling stays put while the ravioli cook in boiling water.

Making ravioli takes patience and skill. You roll the dough thin, add small mounds of filling in neat rows, cover it with another sheet of dough, then cut around each mound to create individual squares or circles. Traditional cooks crimp the edges with a fork or their fingers to make sure they're sealed tight.

Ravioli usually come served with sauce: maybe butter and sage, tomato sauce, or cream. When you cut into one with your fork, the filling peeks out, mixing with the sauce and soft pasta. Like many beloved Italian foods, ravioli started as peasant food made with whatever ingredients were available, but today you can find them in fancy restaurants and frozen food aisles alike.