Pumpkin (Butternut Squash) Lasagne

 

 

 

 

Finally!  Yesterday I finally pulled together the lasagne recipe I told you about on Friday.  And it was worth the wait.  This savory summer-to-fall recipe combines basil and winter squash into one warming dish. 

 

Lasagne is a traditional Christmas Eve dinner in my family and I started making this one years ago when searching for non-beef option.  My brother doesn’t eat pork or beef and I wanted something that wasn’t just a meatless version of "real" lasagne.  I found a recipe from Giada DeLaurentis and have used it as a starting point for my own version.  

 

You’ll notice her recipe calls for butternut squash but I often substitute pumpkin – really any winter squash could be used.  And I generally just roast a whole pumpkin and then puree it.  If I’ve roasted a large pumpkin I use the amount I need for the recipe, reserving the rest for muffins or bread. In a pinch you could probably use canned pumpkin, too.  I never have but I’m sure it would work okay.  She also calls for the addition of amaretti cookies.  I added them one year but found, for the expense, that they really didn’t add much to the overall dish and so now I never use them.  Sometimes I also add a layer of sautéed mushrooms but really I love this pretty much as is. 

 

I don’t care for no-cook lasagne which her recipe uses, so I don’t use them, instead cooking my noodles prior to assembly.  Yesterday I made this one with fresh, homemade pasta – it was very exciting to make the entire dish from scratch!   

 

I think it’s a beautiful lasagne with the small orange and green stripes.  However, to really see those stripes you need to let it rest and set before serving – as you are supposed to do with all lasagne.  I actually cut the piece above from my leftover chilled lasagne since I wanted the stripes to be really visible.  I know, that’s kind of cheating, but if you let the lasagne rest for 15 – 20 minutes yours will look very similar. 

 

A nice thing about lasagne is that you can assemble it a day ahead of time and then pop it into the oven the next night.  It takes an hour to cook, but if you’ve assembled it the night before it can be a great midweek meal.  And, depending on the size of your family you can get two or three meals from one lasagne.  I often freeze individual pieces and can pull them out for a lunch or quick dinner at any time. 

 

This is a great fall dish and I think you’ll really like it!