Bertolli's New Frozen Appetizers Are Reason Enough to Buy An Air Fryer

They're a perfect copycat of our favorite restaurant dishes.

In the pantheon of breaded and fried appetizers, toasted ravioli should be ranked near the top. It’s not as common as mozzarella sticks at restaurants, but when it is on the menu—and it’s done right—it’s a tasty, cheesy app that’s a real treat. Of course, the marinara for dipping has to be done right, too.

You can make them at home, either breading and frying them yourself or opting for ready-to-cook versions, but results vary based on how you cook them. Now that the air fryer is a mainstay in many of our kitchens, the chances of getting fried, toasted ravioli done right at home have increased greatly. Italian brand Bertolli is capitalizing on this idea and has created a frozen toasted ravioli, plus arancini—those flavorful fried Italian rice balls—that are air fryer-ready and rival our favorite restaurant copycats.

Bertolli Has New Air-Fryer-Ready Snacks

Unlike deep frying, which submerges the food in oil, air fryers make food crispy without using much oil. The air fryer and potatoes are a match made in heaven. The appliance gets bacon crispy without the mess of grease splatting on your stovetop. It’s fantastic for foods that are traditionally breaded and fried—chicken fingers, eggplant, zucchini chips, and fish all come out crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

So, it’s no surprise that appetizers such as toasted (aka fried) ravioli or arancini, which might be deep fried traditionally, also cook well in the air fryer. Bertolli is highlighting the air fryer’s ability to produce crispy breaded snacks without the mess with its two new appetizers.

Instagram’s candyhunting spotted both of them at Target.

The Three Cheese Toasted Ravioli is coated in seasoned breadcrumbs, and the arancini is filled with rice and Parmesan cheese and coated in seasoned breadcrumbs.

“There's an argument for buying an air fryer,” one commenter said. “Toasted ravioli is soo good,” said another, and one person said, “Lemme head to Target.”

If you don’t have an air fryer, no worries. You can also cook both appetizers in either the oven or the microwave (or probably deep fry them). But, we’re thinking that the air fryer is the best option to get them perfectly crispy without making a mess.

Read the original article on All Recipes.