Beef · Dinner · Italian · Pasta · Recipes
BySam
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This recipe excited me because I’ve wanted to make it for a while. It also involves pasta, so nothing is better than that. Initially, I conceptualized it being with tortellini, but good fresh-filled tortellini is difficult to come by in South Africa, so ravioli – a much more common variant is. I’ve combined fabulous things to make this dish. Spinach and ricotta ravioli, a homemade Italian tomato sauce, meatballs and buffalo mozzarella. These are all cooked separately and then brought together in a large skillet like a marriage made in heaven and baked. I also added some Parmesan because obvs.
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We are just waving goodbye to winter here in the Southern Hemisphere so that also means saying cheerio to all the rich comforting food. It’s definitely time to make way for lighter and healthier summer-inspired dishes.
So I relished and enjoyed this delicious ravioli and meatball bake like it was my final meal. I’m waving goodbye to my most beloved pasta for a while (well as much as I possibly can). I’ve used a good quality shop-bought fresh pasta ravioli as this is more convenient, but you can, of course, make your own.
I’ve used 250gms as this is the quantity it is sold in, but I think around 350 or 400gms would be better in terms of getting the pasta/ meatball to sauce ratio spot on. You can of course use any short noodle if you can’t get hold of a filled pasta pocket.
Enjoy!
A few of my other favourite pasta dishes:
Recipe – serves 2 – 4 depending on appetite size and level of greed
spaghetti meatballs
pasta with broccoli, anchovies, and garlic
Meatball and spinach ravioli bake
Spaghetti and meatballs
Chicken meatballs with spaghetti
Tortellini with Italian sausage meatball bake
Meatball and spinach ravioli bake
My best pasta recipes
Meatball and spinach ravioli bake
A comforting and easy finner made with store-bought ravioli, meatballs and spinach covered in cheese.
Print Recipe
Prep Time:20 minutes mins
Cook Time:45 minutes mins
Ingredients
- 250 gms – 400gms spinach and ricotta filled ravioli shop-bought
- 150 g net weight ball of buffalo mozzarella (fior di latte)
- Parmesan to grate over and serve – as much as you like
- 3 – 4 Tbsp olive oil to fry the meatballs
- Fresh basil leaves as garnish optional
Tomato sauce:
- 1 small red onion or half a large finely chopped
- 3 T olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 tins of peeled tomatoes
- ¼ cup dry white wine or 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar and ¼ cup water
- 1 small stock cube crumbled (chicken or vegetable)
- a good pinch of dried chilli flakes or two
- 6-8 basil leaves chopped
- Splash or Worcestershire sauce optional
- Salt and pepper
Meatballs:
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 500 g free-range lean beef mince
- 60 g dried breadcrumbs
- 10 g parsley finely chopped (about 2 ½ tablespoons after chopped)
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- salt & pepper a good few pinches
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
Instructions
Heat a non-stick frying pan and add the olive oil.
Fry the onions over low heat until softened. Add the garlic and briefly cook. Add the wine to deglaze the pan and then add the tomatoes, stock cube, chilli and basil and cook until the sauce has thickened. Add a splash of water if it gets too thick. I normally cook this for around 25 minutes and while the oven is heating up.
Preheat the oven to 180C / 350 F
While the sauce is on the go, mix all the meatball ingredients (mince, garlic, breadcrumbs, parsley, oregano, salt and pepper and tomato paste) together – hands are best for this job, and roll into small to medium-sized meatballs.
Heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan and fry the meatballs until they turn brown on all sides. They may still be a bit raw in the middle but this is fine.
Bring a large pot of salty water to the boil and cook the ravioli for 3 minutes until just below al dente. Drian and set aside.
When all of the above are done, combine the meatballs and ravioli in the ovenproof skillet with the tomato sauce. Tear the ball of mozzarella into small shreds and scatter over the surface. Grate over some Parmesan cheese and bake for 20 minutes.
Notes
The tomato sauce can be made in advance.
Leftovers can be frozen and reheated.
Author: Sam Linsell
