Lasagna Cups

I love my families!  Both mine and my husband’s families are so much fun!  My husband has quite a big family (8 siblings in total) so family events are a riot when we all get together!  My husband had to leave on travel earlier this week, so I packed up my kids and we headed off to start our holidays a little early.  We stayed the first couple nights with his family.  My sister-in-law Arika was already there and we decided to get baking (luckily she loves it just like I do!)  We were browsing through Pinterest trying to find a fun recipe to try out when we stumbled across this one.  It was a fun twist to traditional lasagna, though not necessarily easier (they are about the same). The meat sauce in this recipe is INCREDIBLE!  My little girl and I scarfed down a bowl just by itself!  This recipe is a great to do when you have few extra hands in the kitchen!  We all enjoyed this recipe!

My sister-in-law Arika also took the photo of this yummy meal!  Isn’t she so talented!?  I just love her!

{photo taken by my sister-in-law, Arika}

LASAGNA CUPS
(recipe from: Lauren’s Latest)

21 lasagna pasta sheets

SAUCE:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 large onion
1/2 pound lean ground beef cooked and drained
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped1 small zucchini, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-6 oz. can tomato paste
1-8 oz. can tomato sauce {+1/2 can water to wash out can}
1-14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon sugar
salt & pepper to taste

CHEESE FILLING
1-10 oz. tub Philadelphia Italian Herb & Cheese Cooking Cream
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, grated & divided
1/3 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 egg

For the sauce:
Heat olive oil over medium heat and saute onions, pepper, zucchini and garlic until tender, 5 minutes. Stir in cooked ground beef and tomato paste until well incorporated. Stir in remaining ingredients and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook 30 minutes or so. {The longer it cooks, the better it will taste!} This will be very thick.

For the cheese filling:
stir all ingredients together excluding half of the grated mozzarella cheese. Set aside.For the pasta:Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Cook pasta sheets 2 minutes less than package directions and drain. Place pasta on greased baking sheet until you are ready for assembly.

For assembly:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line 12 jumbo muffin tins with squares of parchment paper. If they don’t stay in on their own, that’s ok–the pasta will help with that.
Line the edges of the muffin tins with 1 pasta sheet per cup. {Pasta sheet will overlap about 2 inches.}
Spoon about 1/2 tablespoon of sauce into the bottom of each cup

{#1}.Next cut 9 pasta sheets into quarters and press one of these pieces of pasta into the bottom on top of the sauce

{#2}.Top pasta sheet with a generous tablespoon of sauce

{#3} and then a generous tablespoon of cheese filling

{#4}.Repeat this pasta-sauce-cheese layering one more time being sure to press out any air bubbles.

Top these lasagna cups off with a 3rd piece of pasta, more sauce and the remaining mozzarella cheese.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until everything is hot and bubbly. Serve hot.

Enjoy!

If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #chefintraining and/or #chefintrainingblog. I would love to see how these recipes take shape in your kitchens.

Filed under: beef, dinner, italian, main-dish, meat, vegetable

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Comments

  1. Ruby Jean

    OH MY!!! I can't tell you how FANTASTIC this is.. My children LOVE LOVE LOVE lasagna... and I mean LOVE!!! what a fun little twist and I don't think they will ever want regular lasagna again... :)

  2. Bonnie

    These look great! I am excited to try them. Merry Christmas!

  3. Alaiyo Kiasi

    I haven't made traditional lasagna in months because, well, it's labor intensive and a bit of a hassle sometimes. But your lasagna cups recipe looks easy and is high on the "cute" meter, which I love. What a great idea for an appetizer.

  4. kyleen

    These lasagna cups are so adorable. I love how you took a simple pasta dish and turned it into something fun. Happy Holidays!

  5. Lindsi B

    THIS is pinned on my board. Oh that looks AMAZING and so YUMMY! Would you please share these with our readers for Fun Stuff Fridays? http://www.toysinthedryer.com/2011/12/fun-stuff-fridays-4-3-weeks-long-for.html

  6. Chef in Training

    The source was/is credited under the recipe title. I credited the recipe to "Lauren's Latest". I made some minor changes to the way the recipe was written on her site as far as the layout, but was it was very well written from her and I did credit her.

  7. Kerry

    your picture looks like a piece of lasagna rolled up. That doesn't really match the description of how these were made. Did you roll yours up?

  8. Monet

    Is it just me, I do not understand layering. Is there a video. I have read several times. Not sure how cutting gives you swirl in above picture. Could just be me but want to try tonight.