Soup Bowl Lasagna

I have to say, I have a love-hate relationship with lasagna. I love it...but I kinda hate the production of making the traditional 13x9 inch pan of the stuff. The boiling, the grating, the layering, the baking, the cooling, the slicing...it's just exhausting. Especially for something that will be devoured in no time.

Which is why I love this recipe for soup bowl lasagna so very much. It's all the joy of lasagna in a fraction of the time. You cook up the lasagna noodles the way you always do, but instead of assembling all the ingredients in a baking dish, you skip right to the plate. Some warm marinara sauce, some spinach, a delicious mixture of warmed ricotta and mozzarella, the cooked noodles, some parmesan cheese...instant, super-easy lasagna! No muss, no fuss, no baking. This is a lasagna you can actually make on a school night. And even better, you can make exactly the amount you need, portion by portion, because you are assembling it right into individual soup bowls. Which you probably figured out. From the name of the recipe. :)

So for all of you who are looking for lasagna shortcuts, break out your soup bowls and give this one a whirl.

Soup Bowl Lasagna, adapted from Bon Appetit

• 12 ounces baby spinach
• 8 lasagna noodles, broken in half
• 1 1/4 cup ricotta cheese
• 4 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 cups marinara sauce
• Grated parmesan cheese

1. Bring a large pot of water to the boil and add a tablespoon of salt. Blanch the spinach in the water for one minute, scoop out with a slotted spoon into a colander and drain.

2. Add noodles to the boiling water and cook until just tender. Drain.

3. Meanwhile, heat ricotta in heavy small saucepan until smooth. Stir over low heat for 2 minutes, add mozzarella and stir until melted, about one minute more. Remove from heat and grind in some pepper.

4. Warm marinara sauce in separate saucepan.

5. Time to assemble! Line up 4 soup bowls and ladle a quarter cup of sauce into each bowl. Top with two noodles. Divide spinach on top of noodles, and then divide cheese mixture on top of spinach. Top with second later of noodles, remaining sauce and grated parmesan. Serve at once.

Click here for printable recipe

Lasagna Cupcakes

Those of you who have been reading this blog lately know that I have developed an alarmingly close relationship with my muffin pan. I blame the French Toast muffins that I made a while back. They turned on a little lightbulb over my head, one that has led me down a road filled with cupcakes of all shapes and sizes. Ice Cream Cupcakes. Macaroni and Cheese Cupcakes. And now what may be my favorites, which are these Lasagna Cupcakes. Yep, that's a bonafide little lasagna up there, complete with layers of pasta, rich meat sauce and three kinds of cheese. Isn't he handsome?

So here's how this works. Instead of using lasagna noodles, you use wonton wrappers. Wonton wrappers are basically super-thin pieces of delicious fresh pasta, and they are perfect for this little exercise. The only thing you have to do is cut the little wonton squares into a round shape that will fit into your muffin tin. This is really easy to do with either a round biscuit cutter, or by putting a juice glass down on a stack of a few wrappers and tracing a sharp knife around the outside of the glass. Don't worry if the first wrapper into the muffin well comess up a little around the edges -- that's actually a good thing, as it will help to hold in your sauce.

Once you do that, it is smooth sailing. You layer in the wrappers, your favorite sauce and the cheese until you have three nice layers. And by the way, you are putting these right into the muffin tins -- no paper muffin cups required. I worried that they would stick, but I let them cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, slid a knife around the edges and a little spatula underneath them and they popped right out.

I'm printing the recipe below pretty close to how I found it on Food.com, but I had some of this great crockpot bolognese sauce already in my freezer, so I skipped the hamburger step. And you can leave the meat out entirely for a vegetarian version...you feel free to be totally you when it comes to lasagna cupcakes!

Lasagna Cupcakes, adapted from Food.com

• One cup of your favorite pasta sauce
• 1 lb hamburger meat
• 18 wonton wrappers
• 8 ounces mozzarella cheese , grated
• 3 ounces parmesan cheese , grated
• 4 ounces ricotta cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray 6 serving muffin tin with Pam
2. Cook hamburger meat, season to taste, drain.
3. Reserve 8 tablespoons of Parmesan and 8 tablespoons of mozzarella—this will be the topping. The remaining cheese will be used in the lasagnas (note you can vary the amount of cheese to taste keeping in mind that the parmesan is salty, the mozzarella is sweet as well as salty and helps to hold the lasagnas together, and the ricotta is sweet and creamy).
4. Start assembling the lasagnas. Line each cupcake mold with a round wonton wrapper. Put a little Parmesan, a little mozzarella, and a little ricotta into each mold. Top with a little meat and a spoonful of sauce. Repeat layers of wonton wrappers, cheeses, meat and sauce, creating 3 layers in all, and ending with sauce. Sprinkle each lasagna with reserved Parmesan and mozzarella.
5. Bake until the lasagnas are nicely browned, about 20 minutes.
6. Let cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edges and remove from pan.

Click here for printable recipe

Summer Lasagne

This recipe made me ridiculously happy in every way.

First of all, it is one of those recipes that looks like you slaved over it for hours when really you messed around in the kitchen for about 20 minutes. Second, it takes full advantage of the fresh and wonderful summer veggies that are starting to trickle in -- young fresh basil, sweet cherry tomatoes, and zucchini. Third, it is yet another recipe that calls for fresh ricotta, thereby helping me satisfy my new obsession with making my own ricotta (and as always, you feel free to buy your ricotta at the supermarket, the way well-adjusted people do.) Fourth, the reason it is called "Summer Lasagne" is because you don't bake it. Nope, no oven required.

Last but not least, it was SO photogenic. Like this baby I know, it looked good in every single shot.

Exhibit A:



Exhibit B:

Both scrumptious, right??

Here's the recipe. For the lasagne, I mean...not the baby.

Summer Lasagne, adapted from Everyday Food

• 1 cup ricotta
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 8 lasagne noodles, broken into thirds, cooked and drained
• 1 minced garlic clove
• 2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 small zucchini, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup torn basil leaves

1. Combine ricotta, parmesan and olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

2. Heat oil in skillet over medium high and add garlic and tomatoes. Cook until slightly broken down, about 3 minutes. Transfer to bowl.

3. Add zucchini to skillet (with a little more oil if needed). Season with salt and pepper and cook about 5 minutes until tender. Transfer to another bowl.

4. Scatter a few tomatoes over four plates. Top with one noodle, a spoonful of ricotta mixture, zucchini and more tomatoes. Repeat layering twice, ending with noodle and tomatoes. Drizzle a little more olive oil on top. Garnish with basil and serve.

Click here for printable recipe

Roasted Vegetable Lasagne

I am always a little skeptical about whether lasagna is really, truly worth it. I mean, we've all had it one million times, and it's always kinda the same. But every once in a while I run across a recipe that restores my faith in lasagna, and this was one of them. Roasted vegetable lasagna that involves a sauce made of roasted tomatoes and a filling that includes roasted butternut squash and sauteed spinach.

It all comes together for a beautiful layered look that melts the heart of even a lasagna-doubter like myself...

I used lovely fresh mozzarella and ricotta and that helped (and in case you have not heard me go on and on about my adventures in ricotta-making, please click here. Or you can do what normal people do and get your fresh ricotta at Whole Foods.)

So if you are looking for a delicious and different lasagna, this ones for you. It also uses those no-boil noodles that I never think are going to work but they always magically DO! It's one of the great mysteries in life.

Roasted Vegetable Lasagne, adapted from Everyday Foods

14 plum tomatoes (about 3 pounds total), halved lengthwise
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for baking dish
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and sliced inch thick
3 bunches (about 2 1/2 pounds total) spinach, trimmed and washed
1 container (15 ounces) part-skim ricotta
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg
9 to 12 no-boil lasagna noodles (from a 9-ounce package)
1 pound fresh mozzarella, cut into pieces

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss tomatoes with 2 tablespoons oil, oregano, and two-thirds the garlic; season with salt and pepper. Brush another rimmed baking sheet with 1 tablespoon oil. Arrange squash in one layer; season with salt and pepper. Roast squash until tender, about 20 minutes, and tomatoes until slightly shriveled, about 40 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. In a blender or food processor, puree the tomato halves. Season with salt and pepper; set aside.

2. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Add remaining garlic and cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Gradually add 2 pounds spinach and toss until wilted, about 4 minutes. Transfer spinach to a strainer and press to release liquid. When cool, chop spinach and season with salt and pepper. In a large bowl, mix ricotta, cup Parmesan, egg, and nutmeg until smooth; season with salt and pepper.

3. Lightly oil a 9-inch square baking dish. Spread one-quarter the tomato sauce in dish, top with 3 to 4 noodles, breaking to fit as needed. Top with half the ricotta mixture, the squash, one-quarter the tomato sauce, and 3 to 4 noodles. Top with remaining ricotta mixture, cooked spinach, one-quarter the sauce, and 3 to 4 noodles. Top with remaining sauce, 1/2 pound mozzarella, and cup Parmesan.

4. Set rack in middle of oven. Bake lasagna on a rimmed baking sheet until golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Let lasagna cool 15 minutes before serving.

Click here for printable recipe