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Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Butternut Squash Lasagna

Ok, so maybe it is not pretty or photogenic. This lasagna was really good. When I told David we were having squash lasagna a look of worry came over his face remembering a recent squash, pear, and sunchoke lasagna disaster. This one came from the Culinate site and it turned out much better. I substituted spinach for the kale and tofu for the ricotta cheese.


Butternut Squash Lasagna
from Culinate

Ingredients
1medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 to 2Tbsp. olive oil
½lb. Italian sausage (pork or chicken)
¼cup butter
2small onions, chopped
3cups crimini mushrooms, sliced
~Salt and pepper
1bunch chard, stems removed, leaves chopped
1tsp. dried thyme
2lb. ricotta cheese
3 to 4cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
2cups Parmesan cheese, grated
4large eggs, beaten
~Extra-virgin olive oil
1package (9 ounces) no-boil lasagne noodles (or 3 sheets fresh pasta; see Note)
Steps
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spread squash in a single layer on a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil, tossing squash with your fingers to coat. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, turning once, until tender and golden brown. Set aside. Turn oven down to 350 degrees.
Meanwhile, brown sausage in a large skillet; when cooked, remove to a large bowl. Melt butter in same pan, add onions, and sauté until soft, about 10 minutes. Add mushrooms and continue to cook until tender, stirring often. Season with salt and pepper, and remove to bowl with sausage. Add chard to skillet with dried thyme and cook just until chard is wilted. Remove to bowl with sausage and mushrooms. Toss together.
In a medium-size bowl, mix together ricotta, 2 cups mozzarella, 1½ cups Parmesan cheese, and eggs. Season with salt and pepper.
Brush a 13-inch-by-9-inch baking dish with olive oil. Spread 1 cup ricotta mixture over bottom. Arrange 3 noodles on top (or 1 sheet). In the following order, layer the remaining ingredients: 1½ cup ricotta mixture, one-half of the squash, one-half of the sausage/mushroom/chard mixture, one-half of the (remaining) mozzarella. Place 3 dried noodles on top, and again layer the ingredients: ricotta, squash, mushrooms mixture, mozzarella. For the final layer, top with 3 noodles, spread with remaining ricotta mixture, and sprinkle ½ cup Parmesan cheese over the top. Cover with oiled foil.
Bake lasagne, covered, for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until heated through, about 30 minutes longer. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting into squares to serve.

3 comments:

  1. I had a squash lasagna like this once in college and have thought about it ever since. I've been working a lot with squashes the last year. How lucky to be a swap bot buddy with you! I'm sending this recipe to my sister, too, as I've probably told her about squash in lasanga a hundred times!
    Katie

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  2. This is a delicious and creative way to use butternut squash. What a tasty idea :).

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  3. I just recently fell in love with Butternut Squash. I think I'm going to try to make this next week. Thanks!
    -Brandy

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