Butternut Squash Lasagna
This creamy and flavorful butternut squash lasagna will be your new favorite fall comfort meal and will be sure to impress friends and family alike!
Servings: 8 people
Ingredients
Butternut Squash Puree
- 6 cups butternut squash peeled, deseeded, cubed
- 7 cloves garlic smashed
- 1 1/2 cups yellow onion roughly chopped
- 7-8 thyme sprigs
- 10 fresh sage leaves
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup vegetable stock
Bechamel Sauce
- 4 tbsp all purpose flour
- 3 tbsp butter, ghee or olive oil
- 1/4 yellow onion not chopped
- 3 cups milk regular or dairy free
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
For Assembly
- 1 pkg lasagna noodles
- 1 pkg fresh spinach
- 14 oz spicy Italian chicken sausage
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Scatter cubed butternut squash, smashed garlic cloves, chopped onion, thyme sprigs and sage leaves onto the baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and generously season with salt and pepper. Roast for 30-35 minutes, or until squash is very tender. Allow squash to cool 10 minutes, then add to a food processor with vegetable stock. Blend until smooth. Adjust salt and pepper, as needed.
- Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add chicken sausage, crumble with a wooden spoon and cook until browned through. Drain on a paper towel, if needed, then transfer to a bowl.
- In the same pan, add the entire bag of spinach. Cook down until wilted, but still bright green. Transfer to the same bowl as the sausage.
- Heat a medium sized sauce pan over medium-low heat. Add butter or ghee, and allow it to melt. Add flour and, while whisking constantly, cook roux for 2 minutes. Slowly pour in milk while whisking vigorously and constantly to ensure there are no clumps. Add onion segment (alternatively, you can place onion segment in a cheese cloth and place in sauce) and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Bring sauce to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook for 2-3 more minutes.
- Cook the lasagna noodles according to package instructions. If you have the oven ready noodles, you can skip this step.
- Assemble the butternut squash lasagna. Spray the bottom and sides of a 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray. Add a small amount of butternut squash puree to the bottom of the pan and spread into an even layer. Add a single layer of noodles, followed by 1/3 of the béchamel sauce. Spread béchamel into an even layer. Sprinkle on 1/2 of the spicy Italian chicken sausage and 1/2 of the sautéed spinach. Add 1/3 of the remaining butternut squash puree and spread into an even layer. Repeat steps once more - single layer of noodles, 1/3 of the béchamel sauce, remaining chicken sausage and spinach and 1/3 of the butternut squash puree. Add one more layer of noodles, the remaining béchamel sauce, then butternut squash puree and cheese.
- Cover lasagna with aluminum foil and bake at 375°F for 40 minutes. Remove lasagna from oven, remove foil, add cheese and broil uncovered for 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted and golden brown (watch carefully!)
Notes
- Grease pan and add a thin layer of butternut squash to the bottom of the pan to prevent the noodles from sticking.
- Use oven ready lasagna noodles to save the step of boiling the noodles.
- You may have to break and arrange the lasagna noodles to fit in the pan in a single layer.
- Whenever you are not using the béchamel sauce, ensure it is covered with parchment paper or plastic wrap that is touching the surface of the sauce to prevent a skin from forming.
- When broiling after the cheese is added, watch carefully to prevent burning. Each oven's broiler settings are different and may take more or less time than mine/the time I've listed.
- Allow the lasagna to cool 10 minutes before cutting. This will make it easier to cut.