Lasagna Cupcakes

It's been a while since I've posted a recipe, but honestly, it's been a while since I've tried a fun recipe that I've really liked.  This was an easy one Matt and I made together Friday night (we're attempting to eat out less- although I don't know if it worked because we just went out Saturday morning instead:).  I needed to use up the last of our wonton wrappers, and this was an easy and delicious way to do it, in a non-traditional way.  Although, I don't know if you've seen Pinterest and all the ways people are getting creative with wonton wrappers and cupcake tins!  

This recipe is from The Girl Who Ate Everything.  She is one of my favorite food bloggers, so it's thanks to her I have this yummy recipe. 

A few notes about this dish: I hardly ever use real Parmesan cheese, I guess I'm too cheap to ever buy it, but I happened to buy it on a whim the other day, and I loved it!  It also goes a long way!  It might be nearly as cheap to buy it fresh!  I may be sold on splurging for real Parmesan from now on.  Also, fresh basil is one of my favorite things on pizza.  We grow it in our garden during the summer/fall and then I wash, pat dry and then freeze all my extra basil leaves so that I can either make a fresh pesto with it or take a few leaves out at a time and throw them on top of my pizza (or lasagna cupcakes) the last couple minutes of baking.  It tastes just as good as fresh to me!

Lasagna Cupcakes
from The Girl Who Ate Everything

Ingredients

1/3 pound ground beef

salt and pepper

24 wonton wrappers

1 3/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese (7 oz)

1 3/4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (7 oz)

3/4 cup ricotta cheese (3 oz)

1 cup pasta sauce

fresh basil for garnish (optional, although definitely recommended)

Directions

1.    Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray.

2.    Brown beef and season with salt and pepper. Drain.

3.    Reserve 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese and 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese for the top of your cupcakes. Start layering your lasagna cupcakes. 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.

4.    Repeat layers again (i.e. wonton, Parmesan, ricotta, mozzarella, and pasta sauce). Top with reserved Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.

5.    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.

Lasagna Soup

Thanks to the ambition of Paula Deen's sons to break away from their mama's traditional foods and make healthier yummy meals (not that we all don't love a lot of love in our food, just like Paula), I found this delicious soup recipe that I tried out tonight.  I chose it for Matt because I always make the kind of food that sounds good to me, but I thought this one would be tantalizing for him, what with all that Italian sausage and peppers and what not.

And how wonderful it was to hear him say it may be his favorite soup recipe, that it tasted like a soup you might get at Olive Garden.  I also loved this soup.  I bought sweet Italian turkey sausage (Matt's response: "Of course you did") which was to my liking.  I'm not much for spicy Italian sausage.

Just as much as the sausage and peppers made it awesome for Matt, the lasagna noodles, basil, cheese, and tomatoes made it wonderful for me.  And although Paula uses love in the form of 2 c. of cheese in her recipe (love you Paula), I thought 1/2 c. was plenty for this soup.  I wouldn't have liked any more than this.


Bobby's Lighter Tastes Like Lasagna Soup
from the Deen Bros


Ingredients:

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 pound Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (32-ounce) container chicken broth
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
4 ounces broken whole-wheat lasagna noodles (about 4 noodles)
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup reduced-fat shredded mozzarella cheese
8 Whole-wheat breadsticks or grissini (optional)

Instructions:

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large nonstick saucepot or Dutch oven. Add the sausage, onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sausage is crumbled and browned, 8 – 10 minutes.

Add the broth, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, salt, and crushed red pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the flavors are blended, about 20 minutes. Add the noodles; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the soup thickens slightly and the noodles are tender, 10 – 12 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in mozzarella, basil, and the Parmesan. Serve with the breadsticks, if using. (whole-wheat lasagna noodles take a little longer to cook.)

Nutritional Information:

Per Serving (1 cup) 225 Cal

Easy Spinach Manicotti

I rarely make Italian dishes like manicotti, lasagna and the like, because it always seems like it will take forever to prepare, and because ricotta cheese is a little too pricey for my tight budget. But a long time ago my good sis, Nicole, told me about a cheap way to do manicotti by shoving a mozzarella cheese stick in the cooked manicotti shell. Taking that idea and adding it to a recipe I found on www.allrecipes.com for easy spinach manicotti, another sister, Jen, and I (try to follow me, there are a lot of us) made a spinach manicotti, using mozzarella, Parmesan and other yummies. This recipe is easy because you don't cook the manicotti noodles first. It turned out great and even the kiddies loved it!

Spinach Manicotti
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
chopped fresh spinach (about 1 1/2 c.)
1 egg
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 c. water
1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a 9X13 pan, spread 1/2 c. spaghetti sauce (or whatever is needed to cover the bottom of the pan). In a medium bowl whisk the egg and add italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper and stir well. Add spinach, Parmesan and 2 c. mozzarella cheese and stir to combine. Mix remaining spaghetti sauce with water and set aside. Using a small spoon (or your fingers) stuff the uncooked manicotti noodles with the cheese mixture until they are full. Lay them side by side in the 9X13 pan. Pour remaining spaghetti sauce/water over all the manicotti and top with 1/2 c. mozzarella cheese. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until noodles are cooked.