Lasagna Cupcakes

Hello sweet ones.  Oh how I've missed you.

Life has been... well... life around here lately.  We've moved, so you'll notice different counters and lighting in the pictures. Moving with a little one is no joke and I'm quite sure I don't ever want to do it again.  Boo.  Tiredness all . the . time won out and as a result, we either ate sandwiches or I resorted to the same fall-back recipes that I've posted before or we ate out.  To say that I'm ready to get back into the swing of things is an understatement.  I've never realized how much of a routine / schedule person I am... until I'm off of it.  I think that's a result of Little One himself.  We try to stick as close to a routine as possible.  So, yes, we're ready to get back.  Tonight I had a minor meltdown because dinner was late.  Little One was having 'one of those days' and quite frankly I was too.  I didn't get to make this recipe as originally planned, so I tweaked it a little.  

And look how cute they still turned out!  Think individual lasagna cups!  I'm thankful for a fun and tasty recipe to kick start the cooking off again.  And a heartfelt thank you to my faithful followers who are still hanging on :)

Lasagna Cupcakes - adapted from here (I doubled the original recipe to make 12 cups)

2 cups marinara sauce

1 lb ground beef (I omitted this because of the lack of time)

24 wonton wrappers

8 oz shredded mozzarella

3 oz Parmesan cheese

8 oz Ricotta cheese

1/2 pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

red pepper flakes, to taste

dried oregano, to taste

basil to garnish, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray.  (If using: Brown beef and season with salt and pepper.  Drain.)  Cut wonton wrappers into circle shapes using a biscuit cutter or using the top of a drinking glass. You can cut several at a time.  Note: For a more rustic look, no cutting necessary (this is the option I voted for!)  Start layering your lasagna cupcakes.  Begin with a wonton wrapper and press it into the bottom of each muffin tin.  In a separate bowl mix together ricotta, spinach, dried oregano, and red pepper flakes.  Top with parmesan, (meat if using), marinara sauce, and mozzarella.  Use around 1-2 teaspoons of all the ingredients depending on your personal preferences.  Repeat layers ending with mozzarella.  Bake for 18 - 20 minutes or until edges are brown.  Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes.  To remove use a knife to loosen the edges then pop each lasagna out.  Garnish with basil and serve.

This was a really REALLY easy recipe! Think this lasagna except faster.  It's got the same flavors, but end up as nicely contained cups.  The only thing I had to mix together was the ricotta and spinach.  And if you use meat instead of spinach, you don't have to mix anything!  These wonton wrappers are awesome.  I didn't cut them and instead simply stuffed them down into the muffin tin.  I think it helped the lasagna cups stay together in the end.  I was going to tell you where I got the wrappers in the grocery store, but I don't even remember.  And it's only been a week that they've been sitting in my refrigerator.  I swear this Mommy Brain is real.  Boo.

This is what it looks like when you stuff the wrapper into the tin.  I found the easiest way to fill the cups is to do it in the following order (although you will find it a different order in the original recipe): ricotta mixture, sprinkle of parmesan, teaspoon of sauce, then a sprinkle of mozzarella.  I literally used a teaspoon to fill the cups and it definitely helped.  Annnnd I was supposed to use 16 oz of mozzarella if I doubled the recipe correctly.  However, I didn't even use 8 oz.  A little sprinkle will do ya!

This is what it looks like with a second layer on top.  A lesson I learned:  FILL the cups up because the cheese settles when it melts.  It looks like mine are really full, but the filling did shrink a little when baked.

I baked mine for 18 minutes (again, I was trying to do this as quickly as possible!).  I think 20 minutes would have been perfect because the bottoms were not as crispy as I'd hoped.  I thought they might fall apart when I took them out of the tin, but they held together really well.  The original recipe says to let them cool for 5 minutes... I let mine cool 10 and it was helpful.  Letting the cheese set up a little helped maintain the integrity of the lasagna cupcakes.  Mmmm...  I won't tell you how many I ate tonight ;)  Let's just say I'm glad I made 12!

The Verdict
These were ridiculously easy and would be great to entertain with because of the portion sizes.  They would also be easy to customize for everyone in the house.  Hubby likes the works?  Fill some with sausage, spinach, and mushrooms.  Daughter a vegetarian?  Fill hers with eggplant and spinach.  Little One likes it plain?  Only put marinara and cheese in his.  Super simple and family friendly!  Just the way I like it!!