Veggie Lasagna Cupcakes

Recipe for mini vegetarian lasagna cups, or lasagna cupcakes as we call them. This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Ragu® . The opinions and text are all mine.

These cute little mini lasagna cupcakes were the favorite dinner last week. I thought for sure my kids would pull out the slices of eggplant and zucchini, but they didn’t! Baked in tomato sauce and cheese, the kids didn’t even notice the veggies. My 8 year old asked for seconds and thirds, and my 5 year old asked to have leftover lasagna cupcakes for dinner the next night. With these lasagnas I felt the magic of dinnertime, in a busy week. Our girls are now in dance, piano, ice skating, and Girl Scouts. All these activities leave little time to sit and really talk to each other about our day. Family dinner is so important because it’s a time when we can all connect without distractions. This recipe uses a jar of sauce to make life easy and make family dinner magic doable for busy mamas like myself. My plan was to freeze half for a busy day, but they were all gobbled up.

I grabbed a jar of Ragu® at Ralph’s on the way home from dance class for a quick lasagna. You just can’t beat the these prices. Get creative and use your favorite flavor. I like the no-sugar added version best, but the mushroom would be delicious too. Pasta is my go-to for bringing our family together so I always have a couple of jars of sauce in my pantry. Ragu® will be participating in an in-store Kroger Discoveries program October 16th, 17th and 18th – check them out for even more quick and easy mealtime ideas.

Ingredients for a tasty meatless lasagna. I love making extra lasagna and keeping one in the freezer.

We all agreed that lasagna in cupcake form was a fun change. I happened to have a 2″ round pastry cutter that made perfect rounds, but noodle squares are fine too.

My favorite part of this recipe is the zucchini and eggplant. In the future I might cut out the pasta entirely, as the zucchini makes lovely layers on its own.

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Yield: 12-18

Vegetable Lasagna Cupcakes

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Mini vegetable lasagnas baked in a muffin tin.

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Ingredients

• 1/2 package lasagna noodles
• 1 (15 oz) container ricotta cheese
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 ball of fresh mozzarella, sliced (the kind in water)
• 1 (24 oz) jar your favorite Ragu®
• 1 (about 2" wide) zucchini, sliced into 1/8" rounds
• 1 Japanese eggplant, sliced into 1/8" rounds

Instructions

1. Cook noodles according to package instructions. Set on a lightly oiled cookie sheet so that the sheets don't stick together.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the ricotta, Parmesan, egg, and basil until well combined. Set aside.
3. Spoon tomato sauce into 12 muffin cups to coat the bottom. Cut cooked lasagna sheets into 2-inch pieces, or 2-inch rounds if you have a cookie cutter. Place one piece of lasagna noodle in each cup over the sauce. Top with 1 tablespoon of ricotta mixture. Top ricotta with one slice of zucchini, mozzarella, and eggplant and press gently into the ricotta. Cover vegetables with a layer of tomato sauce. Top with a teaspoon of the ricotta mixture. Cover ricotta with a second sheet of pasta, then spread tomato sauce over the top. Sprinkle with Parmesan.
4. You may have enough ingredients left over to make about 5 more, so go ahead and do so in a second muffin tin!
5. Bake at 375 degrees F for 35 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge to release cups.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 58Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 23mgSodium: 127mgCarbohydrates: 5gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 4g