Skip to main content

Cupcake Lasagna

Disclaimer: I will not claim credit for thinking of this particular recipe even though I've experimented with cuppy versions of other stuff like Nachos.. The underlying punchline applies though... Just as the Nacho's were not made with corn chips (but with Corn Tortilla's instead), This version of the  classic Italian Pasta dish does not contain *Drumroll* any Pasta!!
I came across an article for cupcake Lasagna  being the latest fad in the cupcake series that is sweeping across the US. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703960804576120453548957890.html
As luck would have it, I had nothing but a jar of Pasta Sauce, shredded pizza cheese, a zucchini & a pack of wonton wrappers. and yes an aluminum muffin tray, one of those disposable ones from the dollar store.
"@ this point, I leave you to imagine a cacophony of clanging & clattering sounds in your head"
40 minutes and one disposable muffin tin later, what turned out from the oven was an extremely pleasant & tasty surprise. This dish is definitely one of my 1st try successes & being so easy to make, it's a great dish to serve to kids and have them make it themselves!

 You need: ( Makes 6 cupcake sized portions)

12 Wonton Wrappers from the Oriental store.
1 zucchini
Pasta Sauce
1/2 cup grated Indian Paneer cheese (works as a great ricotta substitute with less Salt)
1/2 cup grated Mozzarella
Italian Herb seasoning to taste

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees F

Spoon 1 table spoon of Sauce into each cup (This ensures that the bottom layer of wonton wrapper does not dry out & become crusty)

Make 2 small, diametrically opposite  slits in 6 of the wonton wrappers and place them into the muffin tins as shown

Place a layer of thinly sliced zucchini ( Using a vegetable peeler works best)

cover with a layer of Pasta Sauce followed a layer of grated Paneer

Using a biscuit cutter or a pair of kitchen scissors cut out circles of about 2 Inch diameter with the remaining wonton wrappers. Place a circle of the dough into each cup.
Repeat layering with the zucchini, pasta sauce & paneer. You may sprinkle some seasoning as per taste in between any of the layers.. Top off with pasta sauce making sure that all the exposed wonton wrappers are covered as much as possible ( else you'll be left with crusty bits of dried brown dough).

Top off with Mozzarella cheese or a ready made Pizza cheese blend.
Bake in a 350 F  oven for ~ 20-25 minutes till the Mozarella cheese  on top is bubbly & beginning to brown.
Remove from oven & serve warm with a salad & toasted Garlic bread.

As they say in Italian 'Mangia'!  Bon appetit!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Unusual Ingredients - Unripe Blueberry Achar

T'was just another Summer afternoon, The kids were home for the summer holidays, getting bored, there's only so much summer reading you can force them to do, and the Indian mommy in me could no longer caution them against going out in the afternoon  (I've solemnly refused to use that horrid excuse of 'You'll get a dark tan if you stay out in the mid day sun'), and so we decided to head out to Terhune orchards for the blueberry picking. The kids never say no to outings to the orchard, they LOVE the trip there, the cute yellow dogs and the cats,  the chocolate crinkle and Snickerdoodle cookies, and they positively trip over grabbing buckets and heading joyfully towards the berry bushes... ... And there it ends, the younger one loses herself in her delightful imaginary worlds where she probably thinks she's hacking her way through virgin Amazon jungle, sighing at every branch that brushes against her legs, picks 2 or 3 berries as if they were a new as

Sputtering back....

I seriously feel like this scene from the movie 3 idiots .. remember this one? The way I kept racking up drafts and eventually stopped doing that as well. Lulled into complacence by the quick high from Instagram posts. Recipe measurements hastily scribbled into a Moleskine notebook faithfully depending upon my moods. The truth is that I keep over thinking the backstories needed to make the post more interesting while in reality the truth is that ideas and inspirations just occur spontaneously (like little itches , sneezes or twitches) whenever the opportunity happens to strike. Some really cool ideas that scare the beejeezus out of me and yet prove to be utterly delightful and simple in the end. Others, that seem so trivial that I feel it wouldn't be worth crowing about -- even if there are enough other recipes in that genre that get so much publicity simply because the author happens to have the right marketing knack. So in the past 4 years that I've been

Product Review: Ninja Mega Kitchen system and a recipe for Masala Dosa

 One of the biggest reasons for attending conferences is the priceless experience of meeting fellow bloggers and get an invaluable exposure to all things  culinary. This includes vendors with new products to savor and get inspiration from. I had no complaints about whatever appliances I had for making traditional Dosa (Traditional South Indian rice & lentil crepes) batter, a sturdy tabletop stone grinder that you could add the Urad dal, turn the timer on , and 30  minutes later, come back to a container full of fluffy, batter with the consistency of whipped egg whites. The The cons of this is the cleaning up, of the various parts, the roller, the grinding bin, the multiple trays on which the rollers need to be placed while transferring the rice & lentil batter, the invariable drips of thick batter on the counter.... you get the point, It takes quite a bit of time. I was pleasantly surprised when the appliance company, Ninja asked me if I'd like to try any of their