Ravioli and Tortellini

We all know ravioli and tortellini stuffed with meat or cheese, but they aren’t the only kinds.

Chianti: This venerable trattoria serves plump tortellini (striped green, black and white) filled with lobster and shrimp. They come in saffron cream sauce with leeks and lobster. (Rapsodia di mare, $16.25.) Chianti, 7383 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 653-8333.

Tuscany Il Ristorante: It sounds overwhelming--lobster ravioli in tarragon lobster cream--but the ingredients complement each other perfectly. (Lobster ravioli, $17.) Tuscany Il Ristorante, Westlake Plaza Center, 968 S. Westlake Blvd., Westlake Village, (805) 495-2768.

Giorgio Baldi: Delicate, translucent pasta surrounds either of two fillings, lobster-zucchini or asparagus-ricotta. The lobster ravioli comes in light tomato reduction with large chunks of lobster, the asparagus ravioli is tossed in butter with chopped asparagus. If you can’t choose, the combinazione fantasia features both. (Ravioli aragosta, $18; ravioli asparagi; $18, combinazione fantasia, $19.) Giorgio Baldi, 114 W. Channel Road, Santa Monica, (310) 573-1660.

Girasole: Eggplant-filled ravioli is made with purple eggplant pasta and comes in tomato basil sauce, the porcini is in brown and white pasta in mushroom cream sauce, and the pumpkin ravioli (nearing the end of its season) comes in butter and sage. (Eggplant ravioli, $14.50; porcini ravioli, $14;95, pumpkin ravioli, $14.50.) Girasole, 225 1/2 N. Larchmont Blvd., Hancock Park, (323) 464-6978.

Antonello: Antonio Cagnolo’s re-creation of his mother’s raviolini is thumbnail-sized, filled with lamb, veal, rabbit and Swiss chard and topped with a tomato-y veal ragu. (Ravioli di Mama Tina, $14.95.) Antonello, South Coast Plaza Village, 1611 Sunflower Ave., Santa Ana, (714) 751-7153.

Trattoria Tre Venezie: At lunch, chef Gianfranco Minuz offers ravioli di rape rosse, filled with Parmesan, ricotta and pureed beets, with butter and beet slivers. At dinner, he has ravioli with a basil whitefish filling, served in lobster reduction, and Fontina-stuffed tortelli in a peppery sauce of watercress and spinach. Available in small or large portions. (Ravioli di rape rosse, $14.50/$18.50; ravioli pesche, $16/$20; tortelli Fontina, $16/$20.) Trattoria Tre Venezie, 119 W. Green St., Pasadena, (626) 795-4455.

Jessica Strand