Mini Lasagna

Mini Cupcake Lasagna

 Who doesn't love bitesized food? Mini morsels are great for on-the-run, snacks or portion control (though you'll see that these are SO good that you really have to have some self-control to NOT eat all of them in one sitting).

My boyfriend and I had been talking about making lasagna for weeks, but considering our attempts at eating healthy, we knew it would be a bad idea. I used to make lasagna that would take two people to put into the oven because it weighed about 20 lbs - and I'm sure 16 of those lbs were cheese. I love cheese. Best lasagna ever, but I don't even want to think about how bad it was for me (this was back when I broke 200 lbs...hmm...probably had something to do with the lasagna).

Anyway, I came across this recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything and it seemed like a great alternative. I liked the idea of using wonton wrappers (or skins) instead of pasta because it was a lot lighter. Another perk was that each morsel was an end piece {my favorite} and deliciously crunchy. Yum!
 

Main ingrediants

I think I spent about 30 minutes at HEB (and yes, I asked a few people for help) before I found the wonton wrappers (skins). They were with the vegetables and tofu...whatever. Extremely cheap (less than $2 for 50 of them!) and easy to work with.
 

Spray tin with Pam

 It turns out that I don't have a cupcake/ tin...of course. These are things I should have checked before deciding to make this recipe. Luckily, I had a mini cupcake tin and I think I like them this size. They are tiny, which means you use fewer ingrediants per cupcake (and only one layer), but still great!
 

Wonton wrappers

 The original recipe suggests using a round glass to create circles out of the wonton wrappers, but I used a can of diced tomatoes since it was sharper. It worked great! I could cut out several at a time. (Just make sure you clean the can before doing this.) You also could just use the wrappers as they are and you'll end up with crispy tips.


This is what happens when you make too much...


 Of course, since my cupcakes were MINI, I had a lot of leftover ingrediants. I pulled out this nice bakeware set my mom gave me years ago and decided to make slightly larger mini versions of lasagna. I used two wonton wrappers, slightly overlapping, and still only did one layer of everything since these were not very deep.


Looks good, huh?

Here is the recipe for the mini cupcakes (should make about 48):

Ingredients

• 1/3 pound ground beef
• salt and pepper
• 48 wonton wrappers (or less if you use them wisely)
• 1 3/4 cups shaved Parmesan cheese (7 oz)
• 1 3/4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (7 oz part skim)
• 3/4 cup ricotta cheese (3 oz reduced fat)
• 1 8 oz can of tomato sauce
• Pam cooking spray
• minced garlic - 2 cloves
• (optional) basil/oregano/rosemary for garnish

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray mini cupcake tin with cooking spray.
2. Brown beef, season with salt and pepper and drain. Add tomato sauce and garlic and cook on low for 5 minutes.
3. Cut wonton wrappers into circles using the top of a drinking glass or anything else you can find. You don't have to cut one at a time or at all if you don't want to!
4. Begin with a wonton wrapper and press it into the bottom of each muffin tin. Sprinkle a little Parmesan cheese, ricotta cheese, and mozzarella cheese in each. Top with a little meat and pasta sauce. Reserve 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese and 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese for the top of your cupcakes.
5. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until edges are brown. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. To remove, use a spoon to loosen the edges then pop each lasagna out.
6. Garnish with your favorite herb (I used fresh rosemary) and serve.

I think we finished this off the next day. It was delicious! These would be good to serve as appetizers or bring to a party. Are you hungry yet?