Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna

Enjoyed another wonderful movie night with Carrie and Kiersten on the Friday evening after Thanksgiving.  Zac joined in with us this time, which was a joy!  Carrie brought this delicious Butternut Squash Lasagna.  

Here is the link for the recipe... but I'll type it out here for future reference, too.  

https://juliasalbum.com/butternut-squash-and-spinach-lasagna/

Butternut Squash & Spinach Lasagna

Butternut Squash filling:

2 cups butternut squash puree (about half of squash)

1 cup ricotta cheese

½ cup milk or more, if needed

¼ tsp. salt plus ⅛ tsp. more

¼ tsp. nutmeg

Spinach filling:

8 oz. spinach (1 cup cooked spinach)

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 cup mozzarella cheese

2 garlic cloves, minced

¼ tsp. salt

pepper to taste

Other ingredients:

10 oz. lasagna noodles cooked

1 ½ cups Mozzarella cheese, or more

½ cup Parmesan cheese for top

¼ tsp. Italian seasoning

¼ tsp. paprika

¼ tsp. basil

Instruction:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

To make the butternut squash filling you need to have already cooked the butternut squash and made the puree.  Using a food processor, combine 2 cups butternut squash puree with ricotta cheese, milk, salt, and nutmeg.  Add more milk if needed to make the filling very creamy.  Mix well and taste - adding more salt if needed.  

To make the spinach filling combine cooked spinach, ricotta cheese, mozzarella, garlic, salt and pepper.  Mix, taste, and add more seasoning if needed. 

Cook the lasagna noodles in a large stock pot of boiling water, according to package directions. Rinse in cold water and drain.  Trim if needed to fit the baking dish.  

Assembly:

Prepare casserole dish that is 3 inches deep and about 9x13.  Grease with olive oil spray.  Spread ⅓ of butternut squash filling on bottom of dish.  Sprinkle lightly with mozzarella cheese.  Top with cooked lasagna noodles without overlapping (3 noodles).  

Spread half of spinach filling over the noodles.  Top lightly with mozzarella cheese.  Top with cooked noodles.  Spread another layer (⅓) of butternut squash mixture, then sprinkle lightly with mozzarella cheese.  Top with cooked noodles.  

Spread the remaining half of spinach filling over the noodles.  Top lightly with mozzarella cheese.  Top with final layer of cooked noodles.  

Spread generous amount of butternut squash filling (the remaining ⅓) over this final layer of noodles.  Sprinkle with grated parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.  (about ½ cup mozzarella)   Generously sprinkle the cheese with Italian seasoning, paprika, and basil.

Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove foil and bake additional 10 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly.  

We paired this butternut squash lasagna with two wines. 

Robert Oatley Signature Chardonnay 2017 - https://www.wine.com/product/robert-oatley-signature-chardonnay-2017/526773

3.5 to 4 stars  

 

Aresti Reserva Pinot Noir 2018 - https://www.wine.com/product/aresti-reserva-pinot-noir-2018/523375

4.5 stars 

Fun evening with dear people.  We watched Trumbo for our movie.  These wines paired well but not quite as magnificently as the wines did with that Mexican chicken soup!  The Pinot did better than the chardonnay, but I wonder if a different chardonnay would be better...