If you’re starting with lobster ravioli, the sauce should know its place. This light cream sauce has just enough lemon and sage to complement the delicate lobster filling without overwhelming it. And, a quick pan technique gets it on the plate while your ravioli is still warm.
During my years as a personal chef, a decadent pasta dish showed up often on my anniversary dinner and special gathering menus. Sometimes it was my creamy Pasta Alfredo or my savory Black Garlic Pasta. Over time, I learned that the simplest sauce preparations are often the most delicious, especially when you are highlighting a filled pasta like lobster ravioli.
So this lobster ravioli sauce uses a short ingredient list and an easy skillet preparation to deliver a silky, creamy, restaurant-worthy sauce that is totally doable on a weeknight.
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Why You'll Love this Lobster Ravioli Sauce
- A cream sauce built specifically for lobster ravioli. Not as heavy as a traditional Alfredo sauce, and balanced to highlight the flavor of the lobster.
- So fast! The sauce is done in about 10 minutes, barely longer than it takes to boil water and cook the ravioli. Such an easy date night recipe!
- Chef-tested, home-cook friendly. This is exactly the kind of sauce I used for clients who wanted luxury without complication.
🥗 Ingredients
- Shallot: The mild flavor is perfect for this delicate creamy sauce, but you could substitute red onion or white onion.
- Fresh Sage: A lovely flavor pairing for both the cream and the lobster. Play around with other fresh herbs as well, like rosemary, dill, or fresh basil.
- White Wine: I like to use whatever I’m pairing with the dish itself. Something bright like an unoaked Chardonnay, a Sauvignon Blanc, or a Pinot Grigio. You could also use vermouth. Or switch to chicken broth if you don’t want something alcoholic.
- Heavy Cream: The combination with the pasta water gives you a lighter cream sauce. You could replace with light cream if you want an even lighter sauce.
- Lemon Juice: Just a little goes a long way, so start with just a teaspoon and work up from there. Add a little lemon zest into the sauce or garnish too!
- White Pepper: Love the gentle heat of white pepper, and the fact that it doesn’t add black spots to your sauce. But replace with regular ground black pepper if you like!
🥣 Step-by-Step Instructions
Fill a large saucepan with water and heat to boiling. Add 8 ounces lobster ravioli and cook according to the package directions. Reserve ½ cup pasta cooking water before draining.
Peel and finely chop 1 shallot. Chop 1 ½ tablespoons of fresh sage leaves, and reserve 6-8 whole leaves.
Meanwhile, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat in a 10-inch skillet. Add in the whole sage leaves and cook for 2 minutes, until crispy but not burned. Remove sage leaves from skillet and place onto a paper towel until needed for garnish.
Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to skillet (no need to wipe out pan). Add in chopped shallots and 1 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh sage. Sauté over medium heat until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Pour in 2 tablespoons white wine and stir to deglaze the pan. Cook about a minute, until much of the white wine has evaporated.
Pour in ½ cup heavy cream and the reserved pasta water. Stir in 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 1 tablespoon parmesan cheese, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, and ¼ teaspoon white pepper. Turn up the heat to medium-high, until sauce comes to a simmer.
Turn heat back to medium and continue to simmer for 5 minutes, until sauce has thickened slightly.
Taste and add additional lemon juice, parmesan cheese, or salt, as needed. Divide ravioli between two plates, and pour the sauce over top.
Alternatively, you can add the ravioli to the pan with the sauce and toss, before plating. Garnish with the crisped sage leaves and extra parmesan cheese.
Storage Tips
Store leftover lobster ravioli and lobster ravioli sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
🧐 Recipe FAQs for Lobster Ravioli Sauce
This sauce is a little difficult to make ahead of time because it relies on some of the pasta water from cooking the ravioli. That water has starch in it from cooking the pasta, which helps bring the sauce together and cling to the ravioli. If you had to, you could make it ahead of time and use regular water or broth instead of the pasta water. When you’re ready to serve, reheat it gently. You might need to add a splash of cream or pasta water.
You can for the sauce itself, but it won’t work for the garnish. Also, dried sage is quite strong, so only use a pinch or two.
Yes, this sauce will work for other filled pastas, especially for other seafood ravioli. If you are pairing with a cheese ravioli, you might want to add a little bit more lemon.
👩🍳 Sauce for Lobster Ravioli Expert Tips
- Adjust the heat as needed when you are crisping your sage leaves. They can burn easily!
- You’ll know the sauce has thickened enough when your spatula leaves a little trail as you scrape it over the bottom before being filled in by the sauce.
- Make sure to salt the pasta water when you cook the ravioli. That will add to the flavor when you stir the pasta water into the lobster ravioli sauce.
- Cook the shallots and sage over medium or medium-low heat, and watch that they don’t cook too quickly. If the shallots or sage burn, they’ll add a bitter flavor to the sauce.
- Add the parmesan a little at a time and stir well to incorporate it into the sauce so that it doesn’t become clumpy. Too much can also overwhelm the delicate lobster flavor.
- This is the best sauce for lobster ravioli, but be ready to serve as soon as the pasta and sauce are done so the sauce doesn’t cool and thicken.
- You can pair this sauce with store-bought lobster ravioli, or with a homemade lobster ravioli. If you do make the lobster ravioli yourself, save some chunks of lobster meat or the steamed lobster tails to top the pasta.
- Love spice? Try adding in a pinch of red pepper flakes.
What to Serve with Lobster Ravioli
A simple green salad is an excellent pairing with this easy recipe, as is a simple roasted vegetable like this Roasted Broccoli Rabe, these Roasted Sweet Peppers, or these Roasted Carrots. You could also serve it with some sautéed spinach, green beans, or steamed peas. And of course, pairing with a crisp dry white wine is excellent!
Other Seafood Pasta Recipes
I love to pair seafood with pasta. Here are a few of my favorite recipes that highlight shrimp, salmon, and tuna.
If you try this recipe, I would love to hear from you! Please rate this recipe and leave a comment below—your feedback is invaluable to me.
And please follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or subscribe to my newsletter. I’d love to inspire you with more delicious, healthy, and seasonal recipes!
📖 Recipe
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Lobster Ravioli Sauce
Ingredients
- 8 ounces lobster ravioli
- 1 shallot
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh sage plus 6-8 whole sage leaves
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons white wine
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup pasta water from cooking ravioli
- 1-2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1-2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
Instructions
- Peel and finely chop shallot.
- Fill a large saucepan with water and heat to boiling. Add lobster ravioli and cook according to the package directions. Reserve ½ cup pasta cooking water before draining.
- Meanwhile, melt butter over medium heat in a 10-inch skillet.
- Add in whole sage leaves and cook for 2 minutes, until crispy but not burned. Remove sage leaves from skillet and place onto a paper towel until needed for garnish.
- Add olive oil to skillet (no need to wipe out pan).
- Add in chopped shallots and chopped fresh sage.
- Sauté over medium heat until lightly browned, about 2 minutes.
- Pour in the white wine and stir to deglaze the pan. Cook about a minute, until much of the white wine has evaporated.
- Pour in heavy cream and reserved pasta water.
- Stir in 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 1 tablespoon parmesan cheese, kosher salt, and white pepper.
- Turn up the heat to medium-high, until sauce comes to a simmer.
- Turn heat back to medium and continue to simmer for 5 minutes, until sauce has thickened slightly.
- Taste and add additional lemon juice, parmesan cheese, or salt, as needed.
- Divide ravioli between two plates, and pour the sauce over top. Alternatively, you can add the ravioli to the pan with the sauce and toss, before plating.
- Garnish with the crisped sage leaves and extra parmesan cheese.
Notes
Nutrition
Instagram Users: Now that you've made this recipe, tag me @vanillabeancuisine or #vanillabeancuisine because I’d love to see your results!
More About Molly
Cooking healthy(ish) meals with seasonal ingredients is my passion. Trained as a French pastry chef, I spent over 10 years as a personal chef. Here you'll find well-tested recipes that you and your family will love!
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