Fake it ’till you Bake it

Inspired by my new friend Libby’s blog about teaching yourself to cook through trial and error, I made something experimental, cute, and ultimately fabulously delicious last night. Brace yourselves for…. baby lasagnas, or lasagnettes, and I called them:

I started with some Barilla lasagna pieces, soaked 5 min in boiling water (to speed cooking time). I didn’t have an appropriately-sized baking dish, so I used my little Corningware ramekins (so cute! so french!). I cut each lasagna piece in half so as to make a square. Then I sauteed one diced tomato and 1/2 diced onion with olive oil, dried basil and oregano, and fresh rosemary (be careful! a little rosemary goes a long way!). I also threw in some zucchini, ’cause we have a TON to use up (did I mention the zucchini was almost 3 inches in diameter?). The cheese I used was mozzarella and “Italian blend.”

The layers went like so: Pam (to prevent sticking), lasagna piece, tomato mixture, mozzarella cheese, zucchini circle. Lasagna piece, tomato mixture, cheese. I used the Italian blend on top because it browns prettier than mozzarella.

Throw in a pre-heated oven (350 degrees) and bake about 20 minutes! The ramekins will be hot. Just a disclaimer.

Did I mention it was delicious? One thing I learned though: it was hard to eat the zucchini circle. The flavor it added was good, but next time I’ll chop it up to make it more bite-sized.