How are ravioles different from Italian ravioli?

They share a shape but not much else. Ravioles are filled with fresh Cypriot halloumi and mint rather than ricotta, and they are boiled and served in chicken broth rather than dressed with a separate sauce.

Can you use ordinary shop halloumi?

Fresh, young halloumi is best, since it softens and is not too salty. If you can only find a hard brined block, grate it and mix in a little anari or fresh cheese to soften the filling and cut the salt.

Do you have to serve them in broth?

Serving them in the chicken broth they cooked in is the traditional Cypriot way. Some cooks lift them out and top them with browned grated halloumi and mint instead, which is also common.

Cypriot Halloumi and Mint Ravioli Recipe (Ravioles)

Ravioles share a shape and an idea with Italian ravioli but they are their own genuinely Cypriot dish, filled not with ricotta and spinach but with fresh, barely salted halloumi, egg and mint, then boiled in a good chicken broth and served in that same broth rather than with a separate sauce.

The filling depends on fresh halloumi, the soft young cheese before it has spent long in brine, since a fully salted, rubbery block will not soften and bind the way the filling needs to, and it will make the whole dish too salty once the cheese is enclosed and cooked.

This is patient, hands-on cooking, the kind of dish a Cypriot household makes in a big batch and freezes, rolling and filling and sealing dozens of little half-moons at the kitchen table, which is exactly why it belongs to Sundays and name days rather than to a weeknight.

Key preparation steps

Make a firm egg pasta dough and rest it.
Mix fresh halloumi, egg and mint for the filling.
Roll thin, fill and seal into half-moons.
Boil gently in chicken broth and serve in the broth.

The dough

Work flour, eggs, a little olive oil, salt and just enough water into a firm, smooth dough, then knead it well and let it rest, covered, for at least thirty minutes. A rested dough rolls thinner without tearing and without springing back, which matters when you are sealing a wet filling inside it.

The filling

Grate or crumble fresh halloumi, the soft young cheese rather than a hard brined block, and mix it with egg and plenty of dried mint. The egg binds the cheese so the filling holds together rather than leaking as it cooks, and the mint is what makes the filling taste Cypriot rather than simply cheesy.

Filling and cooking

Roll the dough thin, cut into rounds, place a little filling on each, and fold into half-moons, pressing the edges firmly to seal so none open in the pot. Boil them gently in chicken broth for a few minutes until they float and the dough is tender, then serve them in the broth, traditionally with grated dry halloumi and more mint on top.

What matters in this dish

Use fresh halloumi, not a hard brined block

Fresh, young halloumi softens and binds properly and is not overly salty once enclosed. A hard, heavily brined block stays rubbery and can turn the whole dish too salty.

Seal the edges firmly

Press the half-moons closed well, damping the edge with a little water if needed. Any that open will lose their filling into the broth as they cook.

They freeze well raw

Ravioles are made to be batched. Freeze them raw on a tray, then bag them, and drop them straight into simmering broth from frozen when you want them.

Cypriot Halloumi and Mint Ravioli (Ravioles)