post

Portion Control Lasagna – Lasagna Muffins

April 10, 2012 By 15 Comments

I couple months ago I saw “Lasagna Cups” on Pinterest and fell in love.  Lauren from Lauren’s Latest had some pictures that would make your mouth water so I knew I had to try it.   After all I love making all kinds of things in muffin tins – especially my Breakfast Casserole Muffins!

Lauren shared a great traditional lasagna recipe that she used for her lasagna muffins, but I decided to make my Almost Famous Turkey and Spinach Lasagna instead.   They were AMAZING.

Almost Famous Turkey and Spinach Lasagna Muffins

  • 1 pound ground turkey
  • 1 can Campbell’s Cheddar Cheese Soup
  • 1 teaspoon Garlic Salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1 pkg chopped spinach
  • 1 egg
  • lasagna noodles

Cook lasagna noodles “al dente” and lay out on wax or parchment paper to cool.  Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray and gently roll your noodles around your hand and place into muffin tin.  With remaining noodles use a child’s cup or cookie cutter to cut circles out of the noodles to be the “layers.”   Set aside.

Cook turkey completely and drain. Mix in soup, garlic salt, and milk until well blended. Set aside.

Thaw spinach under warm water and squeeze ALL excess water. Mix cheeses and egg. Pull spinach apart in pieces and mix into cheeses.  (Its best if you just take your rings off and go at it with your hands)

Beginning with a noodle circle, layer the circles, meat, and cheese mixture until “muffin” is full – making sure to end with the cheese so it will melt and be all bubbly at the top.

Cook at 350* for 20-30 minutes or until bubbly.   Muffins will easily pop out onto a plate.  Serve hot with your favorite salad and garlic bread.

These were such a huge hit for dinner – the girls loved them!  They were fun to eat and pull apart, and it was the perfect serving size.    They save perfectly – you can just pop them in a tupperware container and reheat them one by one.

Thanks to Lauren for the awesome blog post and thanks to Pinterest for helping me find her!   I know we will make these again and again!


post

Pizza Lasagna Recipe

December 9, 2011 By 4 Comments

Back in April I shared with you my Almost Famous Turkey and Spinach Lasagna Recipe which continues to be a favorite around here.  Except for Mike.   He isnt exactly “lactose intolerant” but that much cheese isnt good for him.  Normally I make just another “regular” lasagna, but this time I wanted to change it up and make something I knew he would like – PIZZA.

I looked online for a few recipes, but really didnt see anything that just sounded fantastic.  Part of this whole “learning to cook after 30″ has been simply throwing things together anyway, so I basically took all if his favorite pizza toppings, and added noodles.

He LOVED it.

Pizza Lasagna

Ingredients:

  • 1 box lasagna noodles
  • 2 jars of pizza sauce
  • 16 ounces mozzarella cheese
  • 1 container ricotta cheese
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • your favorite pizza toppings:  pepperoni, onion, bell pepper, black olives, etc
  • Oregano
  • Garlic

Brown meat almost completely and drain.  Add in “crunchy” toppings – bell peppers, onions, etc and let cook a few more minutes until toppings start to get soft.  Drain.   Mix in pizza sauce and stir well.  Add oregano and garlic to taste.

Put a small layer of pizza sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 pan to keep noodles from sticking.  Then layer noodles, meat mixture, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, olives and other desired toppings until dish is full.  (I was able to get two layers of everything into mine)  Top with remaining mozzarella cheese and toppings.  You can even get creative if you want to.

Note: spelling things in olives is a hell of a lot harder than it looks.

Cover with foil and bake at 350* for 30 minutes or until sides are bubbly. Remove foil and cook another 5-10 minutes to brown cheese and toppings.  Let stand about 15 minutes before cutting into.

This lasagna took literally HALF the time as my other one, and Mike and the girls all went back for seconds.  It is absolutely something we will have again and again!

Happy cooking!