Having spinach and ravioli on hand and finding this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, that looked too good to be true, was my incentive to give it a try. Serves 4:
Easy One Pot Ravioli and Spinach
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
- 5 ounces baby spinach (from a salad-ready container)
- Salt and black pepper or red pepper flakes
- 18 ounces refrigerated or frozen ravioli
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
- 6 tablespoons mascarpone cheese
Heat broiler with a rack about 6 inches from the heat source.
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 ravioli and 1/2 cup water, and a healthy pinch of salt in the skillet and bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium. Place a lid 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. Season with salt and pepper. Add the spinach and sprinkle the top of the pan with parmesan. Broil until the ravioli are browned in places, about 3 to 6 minutes, depending on how robust your broiler is. Serve and enjoy!
My verdict:
I was skeptical when I saw this recipe, because of the relatively small amount of water for cooking the ravioli. If it wasn’t from Smitten Kitchen, I never would have tried it, but it’s a source I trust and it worked perfectly. My frozen ravioli took about 5 minutes.
The only problem I ran into was that my ravioli stuck to the bottom of the pan and got ripped up when I tried to serve them. Making sure there was some oil on the bottom of the pan or switching to a non-stick pan might have helped, or gently turning the ravioli before adding the mascarpone and spinach.
It tasted pretty good but needs plenty of salt at every step. Next time, I might skip the mascarpone and use some goat cheese. More flavor and usually found in my fridge. Removing some Italian sausage from its casing and sautéing it before doing the spinach would add some protein and flavor too.
I tried it again and not having any mascarpone, used goat cheese and tossed a few pine nuts in at the end. It was great! Much better than the first time and a non-stick pan made tossing the pasta and cleanup much easier!
