Description
Today has been all things fall. Pumpkins and squash have been the running theme of my day. I worked on a pumpkin cake for most of the day, which I’ll be posting in a couple of days. Just need to finish assembling it!
I still have a bumper crop of butternut squash, so again, I’m still finding ways to use it up. I had been thinking of making a squash pie or even squash cookies. But, I decided on skipping the desserts since I had the pumpkin cake going on. Instead, I opted to incorporate it into a yummy Meatless Monday meal.
A lot of vegetarian lasagnas use spinach, and although I could picture that flavor blending with butternut squash, I opted to divert from that path. Instead, I paired it up with a mushroom béchamel. This butternut squash lasagna has the perfect blend of sweet and savory!
This dish does take longer than you might want to actually spend on a Monday, but some of it can be done the day before. I roasted my squash and puréed it the day before. Then, when I was ready to make this, everything else came together quickly. The béchamel sauce comes together in about 10 minutes ~ about the time it’ll take you to heat up your oven! Then, using oven-ready lasagna skips the whole step of boiling the pasta. After that, just arrange the lasagna, pop it in the oven, and your done for the next 50 minutes.
Because this dish is a sweet and savory mix, I highly recommend pairing this with a salad. The flavors of a Caesar salad offset the flavors really nicely. And, more veggies on Meatless Monday, why not? (Just make sure you’re using an anchovy free Caesar if you want to be a stickler 😉).
Enjoy!
Ingredients
Squash
9 to 10 lbs butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, and cut into 1 inch chunks
2 TB butter, melted
1 cup ricotta
8 oz Parmesan (not the bottled stuff!), grated; divided
1 TB olive oil
salt and pepper
Béchamel
2 pints crimini mushrooms, quartered
4 TBs butter
⅓ cup flour
2 cups whole milk, warmed
⅓ cup Marsala wine
1 cup ricotta
1 cup Romano, grated
¼ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp white pepper
10 fresh sage leaves, minced
1 TB fresh thyme
salt
Remaining Ingredients
8 oz oven-ready lasagna
Handful of fresh sage leaves
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400°
Make the Squash Purée
Arrange the squash on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Bake 30 to 40 minutes, or until tender. Remove from the oven and process in a food processor until smooth.
Set aside half a cup of the grated Parmesan. Use the remaining Parmesan to mix with the squash: scoop the squash purée into a large bowl and add the melted butter, ricotta, and grated Parmesan. Stir until combined.
Make the Béchamel
While the squash is in the oven, make the béchamel.
In a large sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and cook two to three minutes, or until just tender and golden brown. Sprinkle the flour over the mushrooms and mix until the flour is thoroughly wetted by the butter. Slowly pour in the warm milk, stirring or whisking constantly to blend the roux into the milk. Add the Marsala wine, sage, thyme, nutmeg, and white pepper. Stir to combine.
Once the sauce has thickened, add the ricotta and Romano cheeses. Stir until fully melted. Season to taste with salt.
Assemble the Lasagna
In a 9” x 13” baking dish, scoop a small amount of béchamel sauce into the bottom. Arrange three of the lasagna pieces on top. Carefully spread the squash purée over the lasagna. Then scoop more béchamel sauce on top of the squash. Repeat two more times so that you have three layers. Top with three more pieces of lasagna and then scoop the rest of the béchamel sauce on top. Sprinkle the remaining half a cup of grated Parmesan on top and scatter the remaining sage leaves.
Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove the foil and bake an additional 25 minutes, or until lightly browned and bubbling.
Cut, dish, and eat!
Keywords: Vegetarian Lasagna, Meatless Lasagna, Squash Lasagna, Butternut Squash Lasagna, Meatless Monday