Monday, June 24, 2013

Wonton Lasagna by the Campfire


Who says camping food has to be hot dogs on a stick?  After a long day in the high country sun, there's nothing like a nice helping of hearty lasagna to stave off the chill of cool Rocky Mountain nights.  And while lasagna may sound like a lot of work, a little prep at home and some wonton wrappers make it ultra campfire friendly. 

Yes, wonton wrappers.  They're fantastic.

This recipe is as easy as mixing the ricotta and eggs at home, packing in a ziploc baggie and then bringing the wonton wrappers, ricotta mixture, pasta sauce, garlic, cheese and 1 lb of ground chickie (or ground beef) to the campsite. 

You start off by browning the chicken in a heavy cast iron over the fire--add 2 cloves of minced garlic.  If using ground beef, drain off the fat.  Add the pasta sauce and mix well.


Remove 2/3 of the meat and sauce mixture.  Spread remaining meat mixture evenly across bottom of pan and then layer wonton wrappers over the top of the meat mixture.  


Top with 1/2 of the remaining meat mixture.  Snip corner of ricotta and squeeze half of the ricotta over the pasta sauce and meat.  Try and do it so it doesn't look this unfortunate and questionable.  No worries though, it still tastes fantastic.

Spread evenly and then top with shredded cheese.  Add one more layer of wontons and repeat above steps. 


Make sure the top layer has a nice cheesy layer. 


This recipe works super duper well in a cast iron dutch oven with feet because you keep the pot off of direct flames and heap coals on top.  I used a skillet so had to keep the flames really low.  Cover with lid or foil and let cook through, about 30 minutes.  


Let sit for 10 minutes before serving and enjoy.  


I have not quite figured out my personal need for a macro lens.  This is a very cute Boston puppy eye  nonetheless.  Yes, I promise l'll work on the macro photography skills.



Campfire Lasagna

Ingredients
1 1.5 cups ricotta
1 egg
2 tbsp italian seasonings
1/2 cup shredded parmesan
3-4 cups tomato pasta sauce
1 pkg wonton wrappers
1 lb ground chicken
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 bag shredded italian cheese blend 

Directions
  1. Before leaving home prepare ricotta mixture by stirring together ricotta, egg, italian seasoning and 1/2 cup parmesan.  Store mixture in Ziploc baggie. 
  2. At camp site, brown ground chicken in a well seasoned cast iron skillet or dutch oven
  3. add minced garlic and cook 1-2 minutes until fragrant
  4. Add tomato sauce and stir well
  5. Remove 2/3 of meat/tomato sauce mixure
  6. Spread remaining meat mixture evenly over bottom of pan
  7. Layer wonton wrappers over top, overlapping slightly
  8. Top with 1/3 of the meat sauce, half of the ricotta and half italian cheese mixture
  9. Repeat step
  10. Cover with foil or lid and cook 30-40 minutes until heated through and wonton wrappers are cooked
  11. Let sit 10 mins and serve


14 comments:

Bronwyn said...

Oh wow would my husband love me more if I made this next time we went camping. I never thought to use wonton wrappers separately...yummy!

Lila said...

This is inch a great idea!!! I love the idea of eating lasagna at the campsite. Yummy yum yum!

Lila said...

This is amazing! I always make a pasta when we go camping because we are italian and we have to have our italian food. I love this take on italian and not having to boil noodles at all. I can't wait to try this out!

Lila said...

Oh death of me. I thought camping was a way to get away from the crazy amounts of pasta we eat but this looks like I'll be making lasagna next time we go camping. I'm like garfield, it's my favorite food.

Lila said...

Nom nom! My kids are so picky eaters and won't touch hot dogs. I'm not complaining but it makes camping a little limited when I'm making foil packets all the time. We bought two irons to make the spaghetti bread recipe you shared and now I see I can make lasagna???!!! I love this so much!

Lila said...

Now you're talking! Any camping where lasagna is served might be the kind of camping I might actually go to. This is such a great idea!

Lila said...

Wow, wonton wrappers are such a good idea! I'm not really a lasagna eater but my family can snarf the stuff down. We go on July 4th camping trip each year for the holiday and this will be perfect. We are in Montana so know how cold it gets at night in the rockies. cant wait to try this out!

Lila said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lila said...

i really like this idea and think it sounds so yummy! I never thought to use wonton wrappers for anything except dumplings but this would be a great way to use up all the leftover wrappers I always have! It really looks delicious!

Lila said...

This looks so really delicious and easy to make at the campfire. Can't wait to try it!

Anonymous said...

This is really delicious and very effective for a man.camping food for dogs

Lila said...

Oh yummy yummy yummy! I love the idea of wontons!

Lila said...

This looks just fantastic!

Lila said...

I made this at home because I had a bunch of wonton wrappers I didn't use and it was so good! This was a fun recipe!