400g of minced meat (beef, pork, chicken… whatever you prefer)
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
1 carrot
200g pumpkin
4 mushrooms
A can of whole peeled tomato (approx 400g)
250 ml of vegetable or meat broth, without salt (one cup)
80g grated mozzarella cheese
A handful of fresh basil
A box of square or rectangular lasagna sheets
A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
How to make mini lasagnas for babies and children
Finely chop the onion, garlic, carrot, mushrooms (washed) and pumpkin. Take the tomatoes out of the can and mash them with a fork.
Put a little olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and add the onion, garlic and carrot. Sauté for about 5 minutes.
Add the minced meat and cook until browned.
Now add the mushrooms, pumpkin, tomato and broth. Cook over low heat until all the liquid evaporates (between 40 min and an hour). Stir occasionally so it doesn’t burn.
Meanwhile, bring water to a boil in a large saucepan and add the lasagna noodles. Cook them for the time indicated on the package.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC
Take a tray for muffins (if you don’t have one, you can try individual metal flan trays) and grease the molds with a little olive oil.
If your lasagna sheets are rectangular, cut them in two to have a square. Place one square on top of the other, but rotated, so that it looks like an 8-pointed star. Carefully place this star inside the hole in the mold, squeezing a little to fit the space.
With a spoon, throw a little of the meat sauce inside and push slightly. Finish by sprinkling some grated cheese on top and repeat until you have all the holes filled in or until you run out of ingredients.
Place in the oven and bake until the lasagna sheets are crisp and the cheese on top is melted (approximately 15-20 minutes).
Take them out of the oven, chop some very fine basil and sprinkle on top. Wait until they are warm and you can give them to your baby. Enjoy!
Tricks and tips
Sometimes the edges of the pasta can be a bit hard if they stick out of the pan a lot. Just remove them with your hand or scissors.
For smaller babies, you can cut it into 4 pieces before serving it or even mash it with a fork to leave it in small pieces.
Use lentils instead of minced meat to offer legumes in a different way to your baby.
If you want to save a little work, you can buy pre-cooked lasagna sheets, which do not need to be boiled. Even so, you have to hydrate them so that they are soft and be able to adapt them to the mold. They also sell them whole wheat or even gluten free.
If you have leftover meat and vegetable sauce you can freeze it to make more lasagna another day.
