Lasagna Cupcakes?

You will soon come to learn of my love for Italian food and my love for cupcakes.  Why not combine them?

The idea for this came to me while watching an episode of Best Thing I Ever Made on the Food Network.  They were focusing on updated classic recipes.  Aarti Sequeria made lasagna cupcakes on this episode, but with her own Indian flair to it, including things like cinnamon and mango chutney.  Not that her recipe didn't look amazing, I wanted to go for something a little more traditional first.   

Thankfully after a quick web search, and a bit of common sense I suppose, I found a recipe that looked easy and had the basic components of a tasty lasagna.

Lasagna Cupcakes
By: The Girl Who Ate Everything, but slightly adapted when prepared 

1/3 pound ground beef
salt and pepper
36 wonton wrappers
1 3/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese
1 3/4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup pasta sauce
basil for garnish (optional)

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

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

Cut wonton wrappers into circle shapes (about 2 1/4 inches using a biscuit cutter or the top of a glass.  (I decided to go with a more rustic look, and only cut 12 of the wonton wrappers just for the top and left them square for the first two layers.)

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.

 Layer one.

Repeat layers, ending with pasta sauce. Top with reserved Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.

Layer two.

From here I used the remaining 12 wonton wrappers (the ones that had been cut) to be a topper to the cupcakes.  I laid down the wrappers, but a thin layer of sauce, followed by some Parmesan cheese, then the mozzarella.  I forgot to take a picture before I popped them into the oven because I was too excited.

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, if desired, and serve.  Again, being too excited to eat this tasty delight, I forgot to garnish it with fresh basil from my herb garden.  Crud.  It was still awesome anyway.  

Look at those beauties!

  I had to go for seconds!