That’s right, I said baked. I didn’t know if it was possible to bake a wonton and have it turn out, but I wanted to give it a try. I’ve never been into fried foods. Not only do they sit in my stomach wrong, but unless you own a deep fryer, which I do not, they are a pain to make. Picture a pan full of oil splattering all over you, your stove, your countertops, your walls, and whatever you do, don’t look at your ceiling.

Fine, I’m exaggerating.

But still. Frying foods without the proper equipment stinks. And lest we forget, fried foods are not particularly good for you. So if any of the above reasons apply to you, give baked wontons a try. They don’t have the same crispness as the fried version, but they do contain good crunch. Different crunch, but crunch nonetheless. They don’t leave you feeling all bogged down inside, and the ingredients within the wrapper take center stage, as your taste buds are not being bombarded by oil.

My husband’s verdict: They rule, he said. “I could eat them all day long.”

Ingredients:

½ lb. ground sausage
2 tbsp. chopped garlic
2 tbsp. chopped ginger
sprinkling of red pepper flakes
chopped fresh basil, about 2 tbsp.
1 package wonton wrappers (can be purchased in the produce section of you supermarket, near the tofu products)
olive oil
plum sauce (can be purchased in the Asian section of most supermarkets)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cook sausage with garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes. Add fresh basil once cooked.

3. On a large baking sheet, assemble wontons according to package directions. Once they are assembled, brush the tops and bottoms with olive oil and place in oven.

4. Bake, flipping frequently, until tops and bottoms begin to brown. Remove from oven and let cool. Serve with plum sauce.