Trimming the tree. Holiday parties. Crazy schedules. All of these combine to make the month of December a blur and a challenge to get anything on the table for dinner.
I’ve always been a fan of having lasagna on hand. This is a trick I learned when babysitting for Ted and Denise Padden and their four children. She would have me come over and bake a big lasagna while watching the kids, and that would be dinner for at least two nights.
I don’t tend to make the big heavy meat lasagna anymore. Most of the time there aren’t enough people in my home to consume it. I could make and freeze half, but something about lasagna calls for lots of people around a table, a big salad, and some warm bread.
A few years ago I discovered how the Italians pair squash with pasta, including in lasagna. I enjoy the slightly sweet flavor of the roasted squash against the richness of the ricotta, especially when infused with sage or rosemary. Adding spinach to the basic bechamel sauce, adds color and another vegetable.
I made this recipe first for an early Thanksgiving feast and have made it again to try it with zucchini noodles instead of pasta. While I think the pasta version was better, the zucchini one has the benefit of being gluten free. To make the zucchini noodles, slice a zucchini length-wise in about 1/8-inch strips. Brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt. Roast in a 350-degree oven for about 5-7 minutes to remove the extra moisture and increase the sweetness of the zuke. If it is still a bit slippery (like a wet noodle), roast for another couple of minutes until it is slightly brown in areas. Then use just like the pasta. The number of noodles with depend on the size of your zucchini. If they are small, you might need one zucchini per layer, or six (6) in total.
Feel free to play with the squash. Butternut is slightly dry when roasted and sweet. Acorn squash has less flavor and is a bit damper. Hubbard or any of the slightly sweet and very orange varieties will do well. I tried it with acorn squash, because I have heaps of them in the garage, and can’t say it’s a favorite. It will do in a pinch. But even better is just a 15-ounce can of pumpkin puree, which eliminates the whole roasting step. Plus it is just the right flavor. Just don’t use the pie filling!
You can freeze this dish and bring it out later in the holidays, either for a planned event or a family emergency.
Enjoy
XOXOXO
Marnie
| Prep Time | 2 hours |
| Cook Time | 75 minutes |
| Servings |
servings
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- 1 large butternut squash Or use a 15-ounce can of pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 medium sweet onions, thinly sliced
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 pound whole milk ricotta cheese
- 2 tablespoons rosemary chopped
- 2 eggs
- 1 cups grated Parmesan cheese
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups whole milk or half-and-half room temperature or warmed in the microwave to about 100 degrees
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 1-pound bag chopped frozen spinach defrosted and drained
- 6 sheets fresh pasta, or 1 box no-boil lasagna noodles, or make zucchini noodles
- salt
- pepper
Ingredients
|
|
- To prepare the butternut squash, heat oven to 375 degrees. Cut squash in half lengthwise; remove seeds. Rub inside with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Place cut-side down on roasting pan. Roast for about 1 hour, or until soft. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Scoop out insides into a food processor and puree until smooth. Taste. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Can be refrigerated for two days.
- Caramelize the onions by placing in a hot saute pan with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and the two sprigs of thyme. Stir to coat in oil and cook until onions are soft and slightly brown, about 25 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside. This can be made two days ahead of time and refrigerated. Remove thyme before adding to the lasagna.
- To make the ricotta filling, mix cheese, chopped rosemary, eggs, half the grated Parmesan, salt, and pepper to taste. This can be done 1 day ahead of time.
- To prepare the spinach, melt butter in a saucepan, add flour and stir. Cook until flour is no longer raw and the two have come together into a thick paste, about 2 minutes. Add milk or half-and-half and stir until it comes to a boil. Add the rest of the grated Parmesan, nutmeg, and defrosted and drained spinach. Season with salt and pepper. This can be made one day ahead.
- To assemble, coat a 9-inch-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Lay down about 1 cup of the spinach cream sauce on the bottom of the pan and spread to coat. Top with noodles.
- Spread half of the roasted butternut squash on top of the pasta. Top with another layer of pasta.
- Spread ricotta cheese mixture on top of pasta, and top with caramelized onion. Cover with layer of pasta.
- Top with remaining butternut squash, and another layer of pasta.
- Finish with remaining spinach cream sauce. Cover with foil.
- Bake in a 350-degree oven for 1 hour (60 minutes). Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven. Allow to rest for 30 minutes before serving.
- Can be frozen.
Adapted from the New York Times