Meet the Bronx Family Making Raviolis Since 1935
The Deli is an ode to the artisanal food makers of New York. Two weeks ago, we introduced Israeli Chef Erez Blanks, who is making Middle Eastern breads and accoutrements through his five-month-old delivery business Parchment. In this issue, we are spotlighting Borgatti’s, a multi-generational Italian-American family pasta business in the Bronx. Here, Christopher Borgatti, the patriarch of the family, dishes on their signature raviolis, noodles, lasagna sheets, and more.
The Product: Fresh egg pastas
The Deli Pick: Spinach & ricotta cheese-filled ravioli
How To Buy: Order at borgattis.com (they ship Tuesday-Thursday), or pick up in store at 632 E 187 Street in the Bronx. Prices start at $4.75 for dried cavatelli and go up to $21 for porcini and ricotta ravioli.
We make fresh pasta which includes ravioli, various noodle cuts from wide to narrow, sheets for lasagna, as well as manicotti and cavatelle. What makes us different is that we make an egg dough. For many pastas it may just be flour and water, but we also include eggs which does give a different taste to the dough. It gives it that homemade flavor.
This takes us back to my grandparents, Lindo and Maria Borgatti, who immigrated to the United States from Bologna, Italy, as teenagers around the turn of the century. It wasn’t until 1935, when Lindo and Maria were in their 50s, that they decided to open Borgatti’s with their six sons. They started out making them by hand like with a form, like they would at home, until they got a machine. They were actually operating it around the corner on Belmont Avenue, in a little location, and then they would bring the raviolis to the store. We are still making our pasta with my grandmother Maria’s recipes today.
It's all about the raviolis. The ricotta cheese-filled ravioli seems to be the biggest hit. That’s the one that always seems to get talked about. People always say, "you haven't had raviolis until you had these raviolis.” It always goes back to the raviolis.
The fresh sheets of pasta. I mean, making lasagna with fresh sheets of pastas is delicious. And you can get more actual layers of pasta in there when you've got a beautiful egg pasta like that and it makes it so easy if someone else is rolling it out for you.
Also, we do make a variety of specialty flavor noodles [lemon-pepper, basil, mushroom, beet…], and we do make a whole wheat noodle. Many folks have tried whole wheat pastas and they haven’t really found a liking to it, but after having the whole wheat pasta we make, they are a changed person.
All you’ve got to do is know how to boil water, for the most part. I make different types of sauces at home. When we have ravioli, cavatelli with spaghetti, things like that, I make just a nice simple sauce. Everybody has their own recipe for their own lasagnas, but I like meat in my lasagna, so we'll cook some sausage and meatballs and what we do is chop it up and then we'll sprinkle it throughout the layers with the ricotta in the sauce as we make the lasagna. That's the way I like it.
You say Borgatti's, and it means ravioli. You just want to maintain that, keep that quality, because that's what made it special. The quality of the product is what brought us from 1935 to 2021, all these years later. I would like to still see it continue, evolve with family, and keep it to its tradition. And make it possible to get to everyone, but still want to stay focused on the quality of the product.
I don't get down to Manhattan, but I eat locally, on Arthur Avenue, at Mario's or next door at Tra Di Noi. I'm usually eating my pasta at home, but I'll look for dishes like a linguini with vongole clams or a chicken dish, like chicken scarpariello or something I don't usually make at home. I don't eat the raviolis out, but I'll eat lasagnas.
I enjoy many of the food specialties beyond my doorstep in this neighborhood (Arthur Ave, Little Italy of the Bronx). When it comes to the bread bakers and mozzarella makers, there’s no going wrong!
