Lasagna Cups

Having grown up with an Italian mother, I am a HUGE fan of lasagna. If I could choose only one entree to eat for the rest of my life (without thinking about my waistline!) it would be my mom's lasagna. The problem is, I have no self-control when presented with an entire pan of lasagna. My sister and I could polish off half a pan without batting an eye.

Because of this fact, I am always on the lookout for recipes that involve making lasagna with built-in portion control. I had great success with using a muffin tin to make buffalo mac & cheese bites, so I looked for a lasagna recipe that would also utilize the muffin tin. Lo and behold, I found one that used wonton wrappers in place of lasagna noodles! 

The recipe that I used called for 2 wonton wrappers per lasagna cup, which seemed a bit excessive for my taste, so I only used 1 wrapper for each, and added in some lean ground beef for extra protein. (I should note that I actually used egg roll wrappers instead of wonton wrappers because they were all out at the grocery store; the egg roll wrappers are a bit larger, so I just cut off the last half-inch or so of each wrapper.) Additionally, I played around with the order in which I added the ingredients to get the perfect layered lasagna. Feel free to add more or less meat or cheese, depending on your preference.

The result was delicious, and because it wasn't very carb-heavy, I could indulge relatively guilt-free in 3 lasagna cups. Rick actually asked to bring in the leftovers to work today, which is a sign that he really enjoyed them as well! These are so easy to make, I will definitely add them to my regular rotation.

Lasagna Cups

(adapted from Catching Fireflies)

Ingredients:

12 Wonton wrappers (typically found in the produce section of the grocery store)

1 lb. lean ground beef½ jar tomato sauce
⅓ cup part-skim ricotta cheese
½ cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (I approximated the amount of ricotta and mozzarella cheeses)
Italian seasoning

Directions:

1. Brown the ground beef in a pan on the stovetop over medium heat.
2. Take the pan off of the burner and stir in the tomato sauce.
3. Spray the muffin tin, and place one wonton wrapper into each cup.
4. Layer a spoonful of beef mixture into each wrapper, followed by a layer of ricotta cheese, and another thin layer of beef mixture. Then top with mozzarella cheese and sprinkle with Italian seasoning.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 12-14 minutes (until the wrappers are browned and the cheese is melted). Once cool, the cups should easily pop out of the tin.

*Makes 12 lasagna cups (2-4 cups per serving)