First in our Kid Food Summer Series is Mini Lasagna Cups. We originally found another recipe but decided to go with this one, so the ingredients aren’t exactly the same as the link in the bottom of the post. (This post is by Emily in case anyone was wondering who lovepeaceandstyle was.)
The Ingredients
I read the list of ingredients out loud and my mom got out all the stuff. (As you can see, we like to go to Trader Joe’s.)
We measured out all the stuff and it was really fun. The wonton wrappers were really flour-y.
The Process
Mommy was browning the meat.
I’m putting in the marinara sauce.
Jie (pronounced ‘jeh’ Chinese for ‘big sister’) is grinding the salt so the ricotta cheese will be tastier and more flavorful.
I did the same thing as Melody but with pepper.
I was stirring it together so the salt and pepper will not just be on top.
We were putting in the won ton wrappers after the muffin tin was sprayed with cooking spray. We like the coconut oil one from Trader Joe’s.
We put in a spoonful of ricotta cheese.
Melody put in the meat.
We put in the mozzarella cheese.
We added another layer of won ton wrappers and repeated the steps above with the cheese and meat sauce.
It’s ready for the oven!
Let’s eat!
We added a side of salad.
The Result
Ta-da!
Our Thoughts
- Dad – Added a bunch more meat sauce because of a bad experience with ricotta as a kid.
- Mom – It was okay. Would have it again.
- Big Sis – They’re okay.
- Little Sis – They’re good.
We didn’t have a strong opinion about this recipe. It was super simple to make, but nothing fantastic. We’ll take or leave the salad too.
Recipe + Next Time…
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ground beef (probably only used a little more than a quarter pound of meat)
- 1 cup marinara sauce (depending on the thickness, I think we could use a little less)
- 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese (if you don’t like cheese so much, decrease the amount of this one)
- salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- 24 2-inch wonton wrappers (I don’t think ours was 2 inches)
- 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (sounds good to us!)
- nonstick cooking spray or oil to grease the muffin tin
- chopped parsley, optional (the other recipe we were originally going to try didn’t have this on the list so we didn’t buy any)
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Lightly oil a 12-cup standard muffin tin or coat with nonstick spray.
- Heat olive oil over medium heat.
- Add meat and cook until browned.
- Drain excess fat from meat.
- Stir marinara sauce into meat.
- Season ricotta cheese with salt and pepper, to taste; set aside. (You can skip the seasoning or season each lasagna cup layer lightly if you don’t want to measure out all the ingredients.)
- Fit wonton wrappers into the tins.
- Fill each cup with ricotta cheese, sauce mixture, mozzarella cheese.
- Repeat for another layer.
- Place into the oven.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and the wonton wrappers are golden brown.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Bolded instructions can be done by younger chefs!
We probably won’t measure ingredients out next time since it is super easy to just put the ingredients in the muffin cups. Add more of what you like or use less of what you don’t like. It’s a customizable recipe! 🙂 The meat could be done ahead of time if an even quicker meal was needed.
What are you and your kiddos’ favorite recipes to make or foods to eat? Do you like sweets, savory treats, exotic flavors? Do tell!
We used this recipe. There’s a cute little video. Hover over the link before clicking on it with kiddos around in case you don’t want them to say that word.
Moy Chronicles 