Meatless Monday - Butternut Squash Lasagna

Sometimes a dish is so good it needs to be shared.  Lasagna is one of those dishes that really should be shared because you normally have to make a large pan of it.  This is fine but it means that I never got a photo of the food.  No worries, just believe me when I tell you it looked, smelled, and tasted delicious.

One nice thing about a lasagna is that it can be put together in advance then heated in the oven when you're ready, my mom used to freeze lasagna for up to a month before cooking it and it was still just as delicious as freshly made.  So fix this on a weekend but pop it in the oven on Monday and you will not feel like you cooked but you'll have a fabulous home cooked meal.  Invite some friends over so they don't have to cook on a weeknight too.  They'll love you for it.

Square Baking Dish

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups of milk
5 cloves of garlic
1 slice of onion
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of parsley
1 large (about 3 pounds) butternut squash, peeled and roughly diced (about 1/2 inch)
20 (approx) sage leave or 1 1/2 TBS dried sage
1/2 cup packed parsley leaves
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion, diced into 1/2 inch squares
1 cup pumpkin seeds
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
3 1/2 TBS butter
3 1/2 TBS flour
1 8oz package lasagne noodles (no-boil type)
1 cup grated Gruyère cheese
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3 bunches of kale (washed well)
pinch red pepper flakes

Directions:

In a small sauce pot slowly heat the milk with 1 clove of garlic, 1 slice of onion, 1 bay leaf, and 1 sprig of parsley.  Just before boiling cover the pot, turn off the heat, and let it sit.

Chop 2 of the garlic cloves with the sage and parsley.  Heat 2 TBS of the oil in a dutch oven.  Add the onion and the squash and cook over high heat, stirring frequently for 15 minutes.  Reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the squash is fairly tender and has caramelized places, about 10 minutes.  Stir in the garlic and herb mixture and the pumpkin seeds.  Cook for a few minutes longer, then turn off heat.  Season with salt and pepper.

Melt the butter in a saucepan then stir in the flour to make a roux.  Reheat the milk and pour it through a strainer into the roux, whisk briskly.  Turn the heat to low and cook, string occasionally, until the sauce thickens and the flour is cooked, about 15 - 20 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Oil a 9 x 12 baking dish.   Spread 1/2 cup of the sauce in the baking dish and lay 3 noodles over it.  Cover with 1/2 the squash mixture, 1 cup of the sauce, half the Gruyère, and a third of the Parmesan.  Repeat, then add a third layer of noodles.  Spread the remaining sauce over them, top with the remaining Parmesan and tent with foil.  This is a good stopping point if you're going to bake it in a day or two.  Just put it in the refrigerator until you're ready.  Just be sure to remove it from the refrigerator and let it come up to room temperature (about 30 minutes) before baking.

Bake the lasagna in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes then remove the foil.  Continue baking for about 20 minutes, it should be bubbly and golden.  Remove it from the oven and let it sit while the kale cooks.

Strip the kale leaves from the stems and cut into 1/2 inch strips.  Peel and crush the remaining garlic.  Heat the remaining oil in a skillet, add the garlic and cook for a few minutes until the oil turns pale gold and you can smell the garlic.  Add the pepper flakes and kale, season with a pinch of salt (optional).  Toss in the pan to coat with the garlic oil then add 2 cups of water.  Cover, lower the heat and cook until the leaves are just tender, about 10 minutes.

Place a little kale on each plate and top with a square of lasagna.

Check out the gallery page - Future Relics Gallery by Lori Buff