skillet ravioli with spinach
One of the biggest shocks of my post, cough, 30 life is that I have become, well, a jock. It unfolded in such an innocent manner, I barely registered what was happening. I always swam laps but every couple years I take a break from it to torture myself into becoming “a runner” (read: jogging and sputtering).
Besides, as always, this is a food story and very specific one: the kind of food I leave kids with when mom and dad are out playing tennis. I usually leave the specifics of kid-feeding to my Bon Appétit column (you’re reading it, aren’t you? find them all here) but this is too brilliant not to share right here, right now. When we had babysitters growing up, it meant pizza night, and it was awesome. And while we do that, too, it’s a little different now that it’s a weekly thing, and on Monday. Monday is too soon to break open pizza delivery vault. But a lot of the foods I make for the family (read: what we want to eat but try to nudge them along for the ride) don’t go over as well when we’re not there “encouraging” (read: bargaining, begging them to try a bite, reminding them about that one time they liked it).
Which brings me to skillet ravioli (a cousin to crispy tortellini), a magical 10-minute dinner that is child-approved (pasta! cheese!) and makes me feel like I have not fully given up on providing nutrients (spinach!). This idea hails from (wait for it) a meal kit company that a friend uses and told me about this dish. I loved the idea and did my best to reverse engineer it and then simplify it for my lazy purposes. It’s fantastically simple: sauté garlic and spinach, set them aside, steam fresh or frozen ravioli in the skillet, add some mascarpone (instant creamy sauce), the reserved spinach, top it with parmesan and briefly broil it until crisp and browned you never make ravioli again another way.
Skillet Ravioli with Spinach
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
- 5 ounces baby spinach (from a salad-ready container)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper or red pepper flakes.
- 18 ounces refrigerated or frozen ravioli
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
- 6 tablespoons mascarpone cheese
In medium-large (mine is 10 inches) ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil and add garlic. Cook until garlic is barely golden, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add spinach and few pinches of salt, and cook until spinach is wilted, about 3 to 4 minutes. Season to taste. Use tongs or a spoon to transfer garlic and spinach to a bowl.
Place cold ravioli and 1/2 cup water, and a few more pinches of salt in the skillet and bring to a boil over high, then reduce heat to medium. Place a lid (any lid will do) on top and let steam for 3 to 5 minutes (the longer time for frozen). Check a piece of ravioli to see that it’s heated through and tender.
Spoon the mascarpone in tiny dollops around the ravioli, which is very fragile right now and doesn’t like to be moved a lot, but give it a gentle turn or two. Season with salt and pepper. Add the spinach back, and do the same. Sprinkle the top of the pan with parmesan and broil until the ravioli are browned in places, anywhere from 3 to 6 minutes, depending on how robust your broiler is.
Eat right away. Leave leftovers in skillet and rewarm in oven.
