I don’t know about you, but lasagna is a love-hate thing for me. It’s got great flavor, but it’s really time consuming to make and it’s really heavy. Must one go without Garfield’s favorite dish unless it’s 40 below outside? Apparently not. I found these cupcakes to give you the flavor without the heavy or the time consumption. What fun, what fun?!

Ingredients:

• 1 pd ground turkey or chicken (*Don’t be cheap alert)
• 1/2 large white onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) (*Don’t be cheap alert)
• 1 package 24 count wonton wrappers
• 15 oz ricotta cheese (Skim or regular is fine.)
• 1 tbsp Herbs of Provence
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 8 oz mozzarella cheese, freshly grated (Never skim, it melts for shit. If you are eating lasagna in any form you are not on a diet that day. Trust me.)
• 2-3 oz parmesan or romano cheese, freshly grated
• 1/2 jar of pasta sauce (I really like 5 brothers cabernet marinara but you can use plan tomato sauce or your own homemade marinara if you have it handy.)

Prep:

• Heat up your EVOO in a skillet until it is slightly smoking.
• Toss the onion and garlic in the oil and cook over low heat, stirring regularly, until softened and translucent. About 4 minutes.
• Add the ground meat and cook until browned.
• Drain the meat mixture and set aside.
• Mix the Herbs of Provence and a little salt and pepper into the ricotta, to taste.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Rub a little EVOO into each cup of your 12 space muffin tin.
• Layer two wonton wrappers in each muffin tin in opposite directions, so each cup is fully covered. The tips should be sticking up out of the cup.
• Drop spoonfuls of the ricotta mixture, then a spoonful of the meat mixture, then a spoonful of sauce, and finally a pinch of mozzarella and parmesan to top.
• Repeat for each muffin cup.
• OPTIONAL: If you and your co-munchers like spicy food, add a pinch of red pepper flakes to each muffin cup for a little kick. 
• Back for 10-12 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the wonton is lightly browned.
• OPTIONAL: Sprinkle a little fresh or dried basil in each cup immediately after pulling out of the oven. It adds a nice speck of color and sharp flavor, but its not a deal breaker if you don’t have any. 
• Lte cool a few minutes before serving.

What’s with the ‘freshly grated’ dictate?

Freshly grated means you buy the cheese in whole blocks or chunks and grate it your lazy-ass self. Why? Because once cheese gets grated and sliced up before packaging, it alters and dampens the flavor. I know, I know; cheese graters are scary. But trust me, it’s worth the effort and shredded knuckles. Grate your cheese when you are ready to mix it in to your recipe. The cheese lasts and holds it’s flavor longer if you just grate what you need, when you need it, and store the rest in tupperware until you need it again!

~Nom On