Steam ravioli in a skillet, melt in mascarpone, fold in garlicky wilted spinach, and broil for browned, crispy-cheesy perfection in 15 minutes.
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). I usually fail and go back to swimming but this time it held my interest longer. Then I decided to throw in a day a week with a trainer because I’m just not the kind of person who does burpees on my own volition. I started boxing when I found out my trainer used to be a boxer. I got my mom’s old bike and discovered city biking is my favorite way to get around. Then my husband wanted to play tennis again and I was bummed I’d never learned, so now we take tennis classes once a week. If you think I’m about to give a long speech about the benefits of exercise, don’t worry — I’m still me. The real takeaway: once I stopped caring about achieving greatness, I could actually enjoy the sports I do try.
Besides, as always, this is a food story and a 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, but this dish is too brilliant not to share here. When we had babysitters growing up, pizza night was the highlight. Now that pizza is a weekly Monday fixture, I wanted a quick alternative. Many family-friendly dishes don’t travel well when adults aren’t there to coax a bite, so I adapted an idea from a meal-kit: skillet ravioli.
Which brings me to skillet ravioli (a cousin to crispy tortellini), a magical 10-minute dinner that is child-approved (pasta! cheese!) and lets me sneak in nutrients (spinach!). A friend told me about this dish from a meal-kit company and I reverse-engineered and simplified it. It’s straightforward: sauté garlic and spinach, steam fresh or frozen ravioli in the skillet, add mascarpone for an instant creamy sauce, fold in the reserved spinach, top with parmesan, and briefly broil until browned. You may never cook ravioli the old way again.
At-a-glance
Servings | Total time | |
|---|---|---|
4 | 15 minutes |
Ingredient | Amount |
|---|---|
Olive oil | 1 tablespoon |
Garlic, chopped | 2 large cloves |
Baby spinach | 5 ounces (from salad-ready container) |
Salt and freshly ground black pepper or red pepper flakes | To taste |
Refrigerated or frozen ravioli | 18 ounces |
Grated parmesan | 1/2 cup |
Mascarpone cheese | 6 tablespoons |
Heat the broiler and position a rack about 6 inches from the heat, if your oven allows.
In a medium-large ovenproof skillet (10 inches works well) over medium-high heat, warm the oil and add the garlic. Cook just until the garlic is barely golden, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the spinach and a few pinches of salt, and cook until the leaves wilt, about 3–4 minutes. Season to taste. Use tongs or a spoon to transfer the garlic and spinach to a bowl and set aside.
Place the ravioli (cold from the fridge or frozen) in the skillet with 1/2 cup water and another few pinches of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium. Cover with a lid (any lid will do) and steam for 3–5 minutes (use the longer time for frozen ravioli). Check a piece to ensure it’s heated through and tender.
Spoon small dollops of mascarpone around the ravioli — they are fragile now and don’t like much stirring, but you can give a gentle turn or two. Season with salt and pepper. Add the reserved spinach and stir gently to combine. Sprinkle the top with parmesan and place under the broiler until the ravioli are browned in spots, anywhere from 3–6 minutes depending on your broiler.
Serve immediately. Store leftovers in the skillet and rewarm in the oven.
Tip | Source text |
|---|---|
Use an ovenproof skillet and broil at the end for browned cheese. | “In medium-large (mine is 10 inches) ovenproof skillet… broil until the ravioli are browned in places.” |
Steam ravioli in the pan with ~1/2 cup water; frozen needs the longer time (3–5 min). | “Place cold ravioli and 1/2 cup water… steam for 3 to 5 minutes (the longer time for frozen).” |
Dollop mascarpone in tiny amounts and avoid over-stirring — ravioli are fragile. | “Spoon the mascarpone in tiny dollops… give it a gentle turn or two.” |
Wilt spinach first, reserve it, then fold back in before broiling. | “Add spinach… cook until spinach is wilted… transfer… add the spinach back.” |
Leftovers reheat well in the skillet in the oven. | “Leave leftovers in skillet and rewarm in oven.” |
