Butternut Squash Lasagna
This Butternut Squash Lasagna is the perfect vegetable-forward dinner for cold weather feasting! Roasted butternut squash combines with caramelized onions and sage to provide a wonderful filling for this hearty lasagna. The creamy bechamel sauce layers with the filling, fresh mozzarella, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and toasted chopped hazelnuts to create a mouth-watering main course.
I love roasting butternut squash, so of course that’s exactly what I did! Make sure that you spread the diced squash over two sheet pans in a single layer. If you try to squeeze too much onto one sheet pan, it will steam the squash instead of caramelizing it, which is essential for the wonderful flavor.
While the squash is roasting, cook the onions until lightly caramelized, about 10 minutes. Combine the squash and onions along with garlic, parsley and sage and let the filling cool.
The bechamel sauce begins by making a roux, garlic butter cooked with flour until nicely browned. Slowly add milk and bay leaf, whisking the whole time until the sauce starts to thicken. Add the spices and set aside until you are ready to use it.
If you aren’t using it immediately, cover the surface of the sauce with plastic wrap or wax paper to keep a film from forming on the top.
To assemble the lasagna, toss the cheeses together. Spread a bit of sauce in the bottom of the baking dish and cover it with 3 pieces of lasagna. Spread sauce, filling, cheese and nuts over the lasagna noodles. Repeat the layers 2 more times.
Cover the baking dish with foil and bake at 425°F for 30 minutes. Remove the foil so that the top can brown and continue baking for another 15 minutes or so.
It’s important to let the lasagna sit before cutting it. This will prevent a mess when trying to serve it.
If you want to make the lasagna in advance, you can prepare it all of the way through the assembly and then freeze it unbaked. When you are ready to bake it, just double the time for a total of 90 minutes of bake time. There is no need to defrost the lasagna.
Be careful that the baking dish that you’ve frozen the lasagna in can go from freezer to oven. Mine didn’t so I lined the dish with foil, layered the lasagna, covered it in the foil and placed it all in the freezer. Once frozen, I removed the foil lasagna packet from the dish and kept the packet in the freezer. When I was ready to bake it, I removed the foil and popped the lasagna back into the original baking dish.
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Butternut Squash Lasagna
Makes: 8 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour & 45 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours & 5 minutes
Ingredients
For Squash Filling:
- 3 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 4 tsp chopped fresh sage
- 1 cup hazelnuts (4 ounces), toasted, loose skins rubbed off with a kitchen towel, and coarsely chopped
For Sauce:
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 5 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 5 cups milk
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp white pepper
For Assembling Lasagne:
- 1/2 pound fresh mozzarella, coarsely grated (2 cups)
- 1 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (3 oz)
- 12 (7- by 3 1/2-inch) sheets no-boil lasagne (1/2 lb)
Instructions
Make Filling:
Spread butternut squash over two sheet pans, in even layers. Roast the butternut squash on at 350°F until tender, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, cook onion in butter in a deep 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 10 minutes. Add squash, garlic, salt, and white pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in parsley and sage. Cool filling.
Make Sauce:
Cook garlic in butter in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring, 1 minute. Whisk in flour and cook roux, whisking, 3 minutes. Add milk in a stream, whisking. Add bay leaf and bring to a boil, whisking constantly, then reduce heat and simmer, whisking occasionally, 10 minutes. Whisk in salt, nutmeg and white pepper and remove from heat. Discard bay leaf. (Cover surface of sauce with wax paper if not using immediately.)
Assemble Lasagne:
Preheat oven to 425°F. Toss cheeses together.
Spread 1/2 cup sauce in a buttered 13- x 9- x 2-inch glass baking dish (or other shallow 3-quart baking dish) and cover with 3 pasta sheets, leaving spaces between sheets. Spread with 2/3 cup sauce and one third of filling, then sprinkle with a heaping 1/2 cup cheese and 1/3 of the nuts. Repeat layering 2 more times, beginning with pasta sheets and ending with nuts. Top with remaining 3 pasta sheets, remaining sauce, remaining cheese and nuts.
Tightly cover baking dish with buttered foil and bake lasagne in middle of oven 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake until golden and bubbling, 10 to 15 minutes more. Let lasagne stand 15 to 20 minutes before serving.
Chef’s Note:
Filling and sauce can be made 1 day ahead and kept separately, covered and chilled. Bring to room temperature before assembling.
If you want to make the lasagna further in advance, you can prepare it all of the way through the assembly and then freeze it unbaked. When you are ready to bake it, just double the time for a total of 90 minutes of bake time. There is no need to defrost the lasagna.
Be careful that the baking dish that you’ve frozen the lasagna in can go from freezer to oven. Mine didn’t so I lined the dish with foil, layered the lasagna, covered it in the foil and placed it all in the freezer. Once frozen, I removed the foil lasagna packet from the dish and kept the packet in the freezer. When I was ready to bake it, I removed the foil and popped the lasagna back into the original baking dish.
Recipe adapted from Epicurious
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