Roasted Garlic-Ricotta Cups!

Oh yes I did! I filled prepared bread dough with ricotta, roasted garlic and marinara and then smothered it all with gooey mozzarella cheese! These make adorable appetizers, or a complete meal when served with a big salad on the side.

Note: The recipe makes a decent amount of cups because you use a 1-pound loaf of dough. You can easily freeze extras -- just prep the cups, cover the muffin pan with plastic and then foil, and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake the cups right before serving -- no need to thaw, just add a few minutes to the cooking time.

Roasted Garlic-Ricotta Cups

Cooking spray
5 garlic cloves
1 cup ricotta cheese (regular or part-skim)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup marinara sauce (any pasta sauce you like)
1 pound frozen pizza or bread dough, thawed according to package directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat two mini muffin pans with cooking spray.
Wrap the garlic cloves in foil and place in the oven. Roast for 20 minutes, until tender. Remove the garlic from the oven, but keep the oven at 400 degrees.
Mash the cloves with a fork to make a paste. Transfer the garlic to a medium bowl and add the ricotta, egg, onion powder, oregano, salt, and pepper. Mix well. Fold in the marinara sauce.
Divide the dough into 24 pieces and press each piece into the bottom and up the sides of the muffin pans (if the dough is too elastic, let it rest for a few minutes). Spoon an equal amount of the ricotta mixture into each muffin cup. Top with the mozzarella cheese.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the crust is golden and the cheese melts.

Makes 24 cups


Photo: artur84