Butternut Squash Lasagna
I love butternut squash. I think it might be my favorite vegetable. So, when someone left a big butternut squash in the break room at work a few weeks ago, I was all over it.
I was craving pasta last week and decided to attempt making a lasagna, since I'd bought most of the non-perishable ingredients before Christmas and had never gotten around to making it. But instead of making the traditional red-sauce version, I made a sauce out of this wonderful squash and Italian sausage.
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It was delicious! I didn't use a ton of cheese since the squash was slightly creamy, so that made the dish a lot lighter, and it still made 12 hefty portions. I'm definitely adding this to the regular rotation of dinners at our house!
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I hope someone out there will give it a try and let me know what they think! Don't be overwhelmed by the ingredients list...most of the ingredients are pretty inexpensive and easy to find, and you may even have a lot of them already on hand!
Butternut Squash Lasagna
Yield: 12 servings
Ingredients:
cooking spray
3 lb. butternut squash - peeled, seeded, cut into chunks
3 tsp. salt, divided
1 tsp. pepper, divided
1 tsp. dried sage
15 oz. container part-skim ricotta
10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed as dry as possible
2 tsp. dried minced onion
1 tsp. dried parsley
1 lb. sweet or mild Italian sausage
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 cup white wine
2 cups vegetable broth
9 no-boil lasagna noodles
2 tbsp. grated Parmesan
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (I used Italian blend)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and coat with cooking spray.
Place squash pieces on baking sheet, spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with 2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper, and sage. Place in oven and roast for 30-35 minutes or until squash is tender (can be easily pierced all the way through with a fork). When squash is finished roasting, remove from oven and increase oven temperature to 425 degrees.
While squash is roasting, combine ricotta, spinach, dried minced onion, parsley, 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper in a bowl and set aside.
In a large saucepan or stockpot over medium heat, break up sausage with a spoon and brown completely. Remove sausage with a slotted spoon, leaving about 1-2 tablespoons of rendered grease in the saucepan, and place sausage on several layers of paper towels to drain. Cook onion and garlic in grease until they just barely start to brown, 10-12 minutes. Add wine to saucepan, scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Simmer for 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions start to look creamy. Carefully add roasted squash and mash with a fork or potato masher until mostly smooth. Add cooked sausage and vegetable broth; stir to combine. (Sauce will be pretty thick.) Bring sauce to a simmer and then remove from heat.
Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Pour 1 cup of butternut squash sauce into dish and spread into an even layer. Place 3 lasagna noodles on top of sauce. Top noodles with 1/2 of ricotta mixture, spread evenly. Pour 1/3 of remaining sauce and spread to edges. Repeat layers: noodles, ricotta mixture, sauce. Final layer is as follows: noodles, sauce, Parmesan, and shredded cheese.
Cover baking dish with foil and bake at 425 for 60 minutes. Remove foil and broil for 3-5 minutes or until cheese is golden brown. Remove lasagna from oven and let sit for 10 minutes before cutting.
Butternut Squash Lasagna
Yield: 12 servings
Ingredients:
cooking spray
3 lb. butternut squash - peeled, seeded, cut into chunks
3 tsp. salt, divided
1 tsp. pepper, divided
1 tsp. dried sage
15 oz. container part-skim ricotta
10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed as dry as possible
2 tsp. dried minced onion
1 tsp. dried parsley
1 lb. sweet or mild Italian sausage
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 cup white wine
2 cups vegetable broth
9 no-boil lasagna noodles
2 tbsp. grated Parmesan
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (I used Italian blend)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and coat with cooking spray.
Place squash pieces on baking sheet, spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with 2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper, and sage. Place in oven and roast for 30-35 minutes or until squash is tender (can be easily pierced all the way through with a fork). When squash is finished roasting, remove from oven and increase oven temperature to 425 degrees.
While squash is roasting, combine ricotta, spinach, dried minced onion, parsley, 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper in a bowl and set aside.
In a large saucepan or stockpot over medium heat, break up sausage with a spoon and brown completely. Remove sausage with a slotted spoon, leaving about 1-2 tablespoons of rendered grease in the saucepan, and place sausage on several layers of paper towels to drain. Cook onion and garlic in grease until they just barely start to brown, 10-12 minutes. Add wine to saucepan, scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Simmer for 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions start to look creamy. Carefully add roasted squash and mash with a fork or potato masher until mostly smooth. Add cooked sausage and vegetable broth; stir to combine. (Sauce will be pretty thick.) Bring sauce to a simmer and then remove from heat.
Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Pour 1 cup of butternut squash sauce into dish and spread into an even layer. Place 3 lasagna noodles on top of sauce. Top noodles with 1/2 of ricotta mixture, spread evenly. Pour 1/3 of remaining sauce and spread to edges. Repeat layers: noodles, ricotta mixture, sauce. Final layer is as follows: noodles, sauce, Parmesan, and shredded cheese.
Cover baking dish with foil and bake at 425 for 60 minutes. Remove foil and broil for 3-5 minutes or until cheese is golden brown. Remove lasagna from oven and let sit for 10 minutes before cutting.
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