My wife LOVES Italian food, PARTICULARLY pasta - and a big plate of lasagna sends her into ecstasy. So she was tickled when I discovered this dish, which was originally built in a casserole, for a dinner she and I could enjoy together. Now I find it MUCH more convenient to divide the portions into a non-stick muffin tin to make it easier for me to keep track of portion sizes
One of the secrets for post-bariatric success is to prepare dishes that can be enjoyed by your family and still meet your nutritional needs. This is certainly one of them. I still prepare it 9 years out and add a bit of meat crumbles in the sauce.
Ingredients:
8 oz good ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 large egg, beaten
Italian seasoning to taste
salt and pepper to taste
11 tablespoons No-Sugar-Added Pizza/Pasta Sauce
1 to 1.5 cups shredded mozzarella and provolone cheese
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Lightly grease (Pam is fine) 1 regular muffin tin.
Mix Ricotta, Parmesan, beaten egg and spices in bowl.
Divide mixture evenly into the muffin tin - about three tablespoons into each - ending up with eleven portions.
Spoon 1 tablespoon of the pizza/pasta sauce over each portion and sprinkle with the cheese. I love cheese and ended up using about 1 1/2 cups over all.
Bake at 450 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, depending on how dark and bubbly you want the cheese.
The result, quite tasty.
Spoon 1 tablespoon of the pizza/pasta sauce over each portion and sprinkle with the cheese. I love cheese and ended up using about 1 1/2 cups over all.
Bake at 450 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, depending on how dark and bubbly you want the cheese.
The result, quite tasty.
Cook's Notes:
- As you get into solid foods, you can add meat (beef, lamb, sausage, etc..) or veggy crumbles
- For easy cleanup I recommend a silicone muffin tin instead of metal - even over metal non-stick
- Buy good ricotta.. Many cheap brands are "grainy". Personally I prefer the fresh ricotta that they make at my local Italian deli, but Trader Joe's has a nice one - or in the grocery, I pick up Polly-O
- Feel free to add a tiny pinch of cayenne to point up the heat factor
- I use crushed tomatoes with added spices as my pasta sauce, so I can control the added sugar content.
- A friend (thanks Erieka!) pointed out this would work well with pesto, spinach and pre-cooked chicken. She was RIGHT!!!
