Passionfruit KitchenPosted on Feb 28, 2025 • 5 minutes • 862 words
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This recipe actually came about at my sister’s request! She was visiting home and telling me about this dish she makes at college: lasagna with butternut squash. When I at first heard that, I was so skeptical – after all, it seems like something that would get you in trouble with the Italians. But she likes it a lot, so I figured that I would give it a try. After hearing about how she makes it, though…I figured I could improve on it a bit.
My sister doesn’t have a blender or food processor at college, so she makes her lasagna with chunks of mashed cooked butternut squash, and just layers that with cheese and lasagna noodles. No judgment to that lasagna (I’m not Italian, and college cooking is always a struggle), but I’m pretty sure a lasagna is supposed to have an actual sauce, and a bechamel layer (although people also commonly use ricotta). In my version, I made a proper sauce out of butternut squash and I made a bechamel to layer it with as well. It’s still probably not a lasagna in Italy, but maybe it’s closer. And it turned out really good! It actually tastes a lot like a butternut squash mac and cheese, which makes sense considering it has basically the same ingredients – just in a different format.
Ingredients
- Butternut squash: You can also use pumpkin, or any other winter squash. I bought mine whole and peeled and diced it myself, but if you want to avoid the hassle, you can also get pre-cut squash or even canned squash puree.
- Seasonings: Garlic powder, salt, pepper, nutmeg
- For the bechamel: Flour, butter and milk
- Two types of cheese: Mozzarella and grated Parmesan
- Lasagna noodles: Here I call for using no-boil noodles for the convenience, but you can also get classic noodles and just boil them according to the box directions before you use them.
Tips
- Lasagna is actually pretty hard to mess up. Don’t get too worried about the assembly process; if you have a bit too much or too little of once sauce, you can add more or less in one layer and it’ll be about the same.
- You can pretty easily swap the butternut squash in this for a different winter squash, or even use a squash puree. When you’re cooking squash cubes, make sure they’re diced small so that they take less time to cook through.
Butternut Squash Lasagna
A great weeknight dinner, and a fun (if slightly blasphemous) twist on lasagna.
| Prep Time: 30 min | Cook Time: 50 min |
|---|---|
| Total Time: 80 min | Serves: 12-16 |
Ingredients
- 1 butternut squash, or equivalent winter squash, peeled and diced
- 1 1/2 cups of water
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 cups mozzarella
- 1/2 cup parmesan
- 4 cups milk
- 1 box (16 oz) no boil lasagna noodles
Instructions |
- In a large saucepan over high heat, combine the water, 1/4 tsp salt, garlic powder, and diced butternut squash. Cover and boil for 25 minutes, or until the squash is softened.
- Transfer to a food processor, squash and any remaining water in the pan, and blend until homogenous. The squash is hot, so if you’re using a blender, crack the lid a little bit so that it doesn’t heat up too much inside and cause a pressure seal. If you’re using a food processor, you can just leave the chute open.
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Once the butter is melted, add in the flour and stir until completely homogenous and the raw flour smell dissipates.
- Slowly, bit by bit, add in the milk. Continue to stir until the mixture begins to thicken and can coat the back of a spoon.
- Stir in the remaining 1/4 tsp of salt, pepper, nutmeg, and 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese.
- Preheat an oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Time to assemble! In a 9x13 pan, lay down a quarter cup of the butternut squash sauce to start, and spread it to cover the bottom of the pan. Layer on the lasagna noodles on top.
- On top of the lasagna noodles, spread 1/2 cup of the cheese sauce, enough to coat the top of the lasagna noodles in a thin layer.
- On top of the layer of cheese sauce, add about 1/4 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/8 cup of parmesan cheese.
- On top of the cheese, layer another 1/2 cup of butternut squash sauce, enough to coat the top of the cheese sauce. Try to avoid mixing the sauce layers.
- Layer the lasagna noodles on top, and repeat the layers: noodles, cheese sauce, cheese, butternut squash sauce, noodles. Continue until you have used up your cheese sauce.
- Try to reserve some butternut squash sauce as you reach the last layer of lasagna noodles. To finish off the assembly, top the last layer of lasagna noodles with the remaining squash sauce, then top with 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/8 cup of parmesan cheese.
- Cover with foil and bake for 40 min, then uncover and bake for another 10 min.
- Enjoy!
Notes |
This recipe is vegetarian.
