Butternut Squash Lasagna

Dig in to this delicious Butternut Squash Lasagna

I love cooking with the seasons. And fall is all about comfort food for me. I love the colors, taste and feel of the root vegetables that are so prevalent. We received a butternut squash from our CSA last week and I was determined to do something fun with it. 

I have had lasagna noodles in my pantry for ages that I hadn't used, so I decided to do a butternut squash lasagna. I looked up a few different recipes, but none of them seemed just right to me. Also, I had no ricotta in the house and I didn't want to go to the store. So, I chose 3 of my favorite recipes and combined them, and played with them, and voila, created a new favorite Butternut Squash Lasagna recipe. It was a huge hit! 

Side note, as my husband was eating leftovers of the lasagna for lunch, he said to me, "I could eat this everyday. Forever." Pretty high praise!

• 1 Butternut Squash
• 1 Box lasagna noodles
• 1 cup marinara sauce (homemade or jarred)
• 1/4 c. roasted red pepper, pureed (homemade or jarred)
• 1 handful of basil leaves, chopped
• 6 sausage links
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 6 Tbsp Butter
• 1/4 c Flour
• 6 cups milk
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
• olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

 

Step 1: Make Butternut Squash Puree

Cut Butternut Squash in half.

Brush with olive oil.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake face down at 400 degrees for 1 hour. 

When done, let cool enough to be able to handle.

Scoop insides out, place in bowl and mash.

Set aside.

Step 2: Cook Lasagna Noodles

Boil one box of lasagna noodles according to directions.

I really find spreading out the cooked noodles on a baking sheet or parchment paper drizzled with olive oil makes a huge difference in the finished product.

Step 3: Make Roasted Red Pepper Marinara Sauce

Blend marinara sauce with roasted red peppers.

Mix in chopped basil.

Set aside.

Step 4: Make Filling

In a hot pan over medium-high heat, sautee garlic and onion in olive oil. 

Remove sausage from casings and add to pan. 

Once cooked, remove to a bowl and mix with butternut squash. 

Set aside.

Step 5: Make Bechamel Sauce

Melt flour in a sauce pan over medium heat. 

Whisk flour into melted butter. Continue cooking over low heat, while whisking. You do not want to let the flour brown.

Slowly whisk in milk, raise heat to medium. 

Continue to cook over medium heat, whisking continuously until thickened (about 10 minutes). Add salt and pepper to taste, reduce heat to low and continue cooking another 5-10 minutes. When complete, set aside.

Ready to Assemble (from left): Butternut Squash Sausage filling, cheeses, red sauce, bechamel, lasagna noodles.

Step 6: Put the Lasagna Together

In a 9x13 dish, place a thin layer of Bechamel Sauce.

Add about 5 lasagna noodles on top of sauce, slightly overlapping.

Top with 1/2 of the Butternut Squash Sausage filling.

Top with 1/4 c each cheese

Top with a thin layer of Bechamel Sauce

Add another layer of noodles, Butternut Squash Sausage filling, cheese, Bechamel Sauce.

Top with an additional layer of noodles, Bechamel Sauce, Roasted Red Pepper Marinara Sauce and remaining cheese. 

In the midst of layering: Bechamel, noodles, Butternut Squash Sausage filling

Bake

Cover with foil. Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes. Uncover for the last 5-10 minutes. Let sit for about 10 minutes before cutting. Serve hot.

It was a multi-stop process, as lasagna tends to be, but so worth it! You can easily prep this in stages and can make up to a day ahead to have it ready to pop in the oven for when you need a delicious, hearty meal. You can also bake it ahead and store in smaller serving containers to be available for dinners on the go. 

The Dunican sisters were anti-grocery shopping today. I’m not sure what Regina ended up finding in her pantry and freezer to turn into dinner, but I had quite a coup, inspired by National Seafood Bisque Day, I combined the recipe the punchbowl.com page recommended with some inspiration from Ina Garten’s Shrimp Bisque (because I had all the ingredients on hand).

This recipe is truly a last-minute preparation. I made the whole thing from frozen shrimp to eating the piping hot bowl with a piece of crusty bread in 30 minutes. If you use frozen shrimp, skip the sautéing step, but the olive oil does add some depth of flavor to your bisque. If you don’t have white wine, you can substitute seafood stock or even water, but add a splash (less than ¼ cup of brandy, vermouth, or dry sherry at the end). Remember to take the center out of the blender when blending hot liquids; hot liquids tend to cause the blender to “explode” and are quite dangerous, so place a folded dish towel over the hole in the blender top to let the steam escape, and keep your hand on it so the top and towel stay in place.

Truly last-minute “National Seafood Bisque Day” shrimp bisque

1 T olive oil
1 lb shrimp, in shells, frozen is fine
1 bottle white wine
1 qt light cream
¼ t thyme leaves
1 pinch black pepper
1 pinch kosher salt
1 pinch cayenne pepper

If shrimp is thawed, sauté shrimp, shells and all, in olive oil; add thyme, pepper, and salt. Simmer shrimp in wine just until cooked (pink), overcooking shrimp will cause it to be tough. Pull shrimp from wine and chill in refrigerator until cool enough to handle. In the meantime, add cream to wine and continue simmering over low heat.

Once shrimp is cool enough, peel shrimp and place in blender; reserve 12 shrimp, peeled, with tails intact. Add liquid so blender is half full. With center of blender top out of hole, place folded dish cloth over hole. Keeping your hand on dish cloth, pulse blender until shrimp is chopped fine. Return to pot to warm over low heat. Stir in cayenne pepper. Serve immediately with two whole shrimp as garnish.

Snow Day Recipes

It's a snow day here in PA, and in many other places around the country. Anyone have some great, warm & cozy meals they make on these chilly days?

I have taken out chicken thighs and am not heading out to the store in the snow, so I'll have to see what I have to go with them. I'm looking for something I can put in the crockpot this morning and forget about.

I think I am going to do something like this, but with thighs and in the crockpot. It was from the BHG chicken dinners link that Kate posted awhile ago. I think I'll serve with some kind of pasta, maybe orzo, and a salad.

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (1-1/4 to 1-1/2 lb. total)

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 medium onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 15-oz. can crushed tomatoes

1 5.75oz. jar sliced pitted green olives, drained

1 2.25-oz. can sliced pitted ripe olives, drained

2 Tbsp. capers, drained

2 Tbsp. finely shredded lemon peel

1 tsp. dried oregano, crushed

3 Tbsp. snipped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley

1. In large skillet brown chicken in hot oil over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, turning once. Remove chicken from skillet; set aside. Add onion to skillet. Cook over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender and lightly browned, stirring occasionally and adding garlic the last 1 minute of cooking.

2. Stir tomatoes, olives, capers, lemon peel, and oregano into onion mixture. Place chicken on tomato mixture. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 13 to 15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink (170 degrees F).

3. To serve, place chicken on platter. Season tomato mixture to taste with salt and black pepper. Spoon tomato mixture over chicken. Sprinkle with parsley. Makes 4 servings.

Super Bowl

I just came across this dip and thought it might be a fun alternative to a standard dip for Super Bowl Sunday. What is everyone else making for the big game?

WARM BACON CHEESE SOURDOUGH DIP

1 lg round loaf of sourdough bread

1 pkg cream cheese

1 1/2 c sour cream

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

2-3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

3/4 lb bacon - cooked and crumbled

Cut out a circle in top of the bread and gut the middle to make a bowl. Save inside pieces for dipping.

In a mixing bowl beat cream ch, sour cream, cheddar cheese and Worcestershire sauce. Then mix in bacon. Pour into bread bowl. Wrap in tin foil and bake in over at 325 degrees for one hour until heated through. Serve with extra bread or crackers.

Make-ahead Mashed Potatoes Recipe?

Regina, your Make-ahead Mashed Potatoes at Christmas were great. Can you please share the recipe?

Brandini Toffee

This Toffee recipe from Martha Stewart makes me think of Aunt Margo's toffee. It is pretty easy to make and really comes out great.

Ingredients
Makes about 2 pounds1/4 pound whole almonds3 cups (6 sticks) salted butter3 cups sugar1 pound Guittard French vanilla dark chocolate


DirectionsPreheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread almonds evenly on a baking sheet and transfer to oven. Roast until almonds are dark and fragrant, but not burned, about 15 minutes. Remove nuts from oven and let cool completely. Transfer cooled nuts to a large resealable plastic bag. Using a mallet or other heavy object, pound nuts until coarsely ground.
Melt butter in an 8-quart pot over medium-low heat; stir in sugar. Continue stirring until toffee reaches 305 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 30 minutes.
Pour toffee onto an 18-by-13-inch rimmed baking sheet, spreading evenly to cover. Let cool until toffee is slightly hardened, but still tacky. Run a knife along the edges of the baking sheet to make toffee easier to remove.
Meanwhile, in a bowl set over (but not touching) simmering water, melt chocolate. Remove chocolate from heat and let cool slightly until it reaches about 95 degrees on a candy thermometer. Immediately pour melted chocolate over toffee, spreading evenly to cover. Sprinkle over coarsely ground almonds, pressing down with offset spatula. Transfer to refrigerator until toffee is set, about 1 hour.
To remove toffee from pan, run a sharp knife along the edges and lift toffee from the bottom. Using your hands, break toffee into large pieces; keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Cool-weather Soups

I always love to have soups during this time of year. It makes me feel warm and toasty, add salad and a bread, and I am in heaven!

Last night, I made a butternut squash soup. I roasted the squash with a little olive oil, s&p at 400 for about 45 minutes, until it was tender. Then, sauteed a little onion and garlic, added the squash pulp and some chicken stock, nutmeg and sage. Brought the soup to a boil and let it simmer. Then, pureed in the blender until smooth. Drizzled a little molasses on top before serving. It is good, but I would be more than welcome to trying other butternut squash soup recipes, as well as other soup recipes in general. 

I will come back shortly and post a few of our favorites.