Butternut Squash Lasagna

This week the Sunday Supper group worked with pasta. Nancy selected a healthy recipe for butternut Squash and Leek lasagna that she found on the Kaiser Permanente website. The recipe is by Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough who often write for Cooking Light magazine so I knew that it would be good.

I googled to see how it compared with other squash lasagna recipes out there. It seems that it is impossible to be a celebrity cook without having a squash lasagna recipe! Giada's uses whole milk, basil (?????), and a whopping 2 1/2 cups of whole milk mozzarella and 1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese! Now it also adds some crumbled amaretti cookies with the squash which I do think would be nice. Martha's uses 1 lb ricotta, 1/2 cup whipping cream, 2 egg yolks, 1/2 lb mozzarella cheese, and 1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese. Michael Chiarello uses 3 cups of cheese, whole milk, and 1/4 lb of butter. Jamie Oliver has a deconstructed version. Mario Batoli has a version with a rich bechamel. You get the picture . . .

Rachel Ray has a version as well but given that I used the proviso 'cook' I won't include her.

Anyway, the recipe that Nancy selected is healthy. Only 2 tablespoon of added fat. Low-fat milk. No cheese other than a good quality parmigiano (which is a very low-fat cheese). It's pretty well just veggies, pasta, and some dairy. We were curious to see how it would taste with all of that gooey-goodness from pounds of cheese removed . . .

The only ingredient changes that I made was to add a tsp of ground sage because we really like the combination of butternut squash and sage; I also left out the salt.

After hearing about Sandi's unfortunate butternut squash grating incident I decided to just chop the squash up fine in the food processor - this seemed to work.

I didn't add any additional cheese (although I was sorely tempted to do so) and it was fine as is.

It wasn't identical to the butternut squash lasagna that we buy pre-made from Pass da Pasta in Stratford but it was sure approaching it in taste!

Squash is one of those flavours that I associate with fall. I do hope that I remember this great lasagna when butternut squash is plentiful in October!

Butternut Squash Lasagna

10 ounces lasagna noodles, preferably whole-wheat
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large or 5 medium leeks, pale green and white parts only, thinly sliced and washed thoroughly (about 6 cups)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups nonfat milk
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 2-pound butternut squash, peeled, halved, seeded and grated using the large hole side of a box grater
6 ounces Parmigiano Reggiano, grated using the large hole side of a box grater
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts, (see Tip)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook noodles until not quite al dente, about 2 minutes less than the package directions. Drain; return the noodles to the pot and cover with cool water.

Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add leeks; cook, stirring often, until softened, about 6 minutes. Sprinkle flour over the leeks; stir well. Cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Whisk in milk in a slow stream and cook, whisking constantly, until thick and bubbling, 8 to 10 minutes. Whisk in thyme, salt, nutmeg and pepper. Remove from the heat.

Assemble lasagna in the prepared baking dish by layering one third of the noodles, one third of the sauce, half the squash, one third of the cheese, half the remaining noodles, half the remaining sauce, all the pine nuts, all the remaining squash, half the remaining cheese, all the remaining noodles, all the remaining sauce and all the remaining cheese. Cover with parchment paper then foil.

Bake the lasagna for 50 minutes. Uncover and bake until bubbling and lightly browned, 30 to 45 minutes more. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving (or follow make ahead instructions).

Tip: To toast pine nuts, cook in a small dry skillet over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until fragrant and lightly browned, 2 to 4 minutes.

Recipe Nutrition:
Per serving: 277 calories; 9 g fat (4 g saturated fat, 2 g mono unsaturated fat); 19 mg cholesterol; 37 g carbohydrates; 14 g protein; 6 g fiber; 464 mg sodium; 514 mg potassium
Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin A (150% daily value), Calcium & Vitamin C (30% dv), Iron (15% dv)
2 Carbohydrate Servings
Exchanges: 2 starch, 1 vegetable, 1 high-fat meat

Comments

[Lasagna]

This is a great idea actually. I've tried butternut squash although I'm quite hesitant at first because my kids simply don't like veggies, but guess what? My kids love it! They don't even realize that they're having veggies already, lol!

[JDeQ]

That is the best sort of recipe isn't it?

[nancyhol]

Just catching up on my blog reading.

Your lasagna looks yummy! It is interesting to see how differently the professional chefs make the same dish.

[JDeQ]

A great recipe nancy - thanks for sharing.