By Karen Seegobin:
As the holidays are coming upon us and winter vegetables are in season, why not try a hearty, tasty, and most important, easy to make, meal. Butternut squash lasagna is simple, elegant, nutritious and no flambeing or deglazing involved.
Ingredients
Roasted Squash
1 butternut squash, peeled and diced into 1-inch pieces
2T extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. black pepper
Béchamel Sauce
2 T butter
1/3 C all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. each salt and pepper
3 C milk
¼ C each of Parmesan and Mozzarella cheeses
Lasagna
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 T extra virgin olive oil
¼ tsp. salt
1 lb. ground beef (or 10 oz. package of vegetarian beef crumbles)
1 C vegetable broth
12 no bake lasagna noodles
Additional mozzarella cheese
Directions
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Toss butternut squash with oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 20-25 minutes until tender. Remove from oven.
While squash is roasting, melt the butter over medium heat in a saucepan. Gradually stir in the flour with a whisk. Add salt and pepper. Slowly whisk in milk over med-high heat until mixture boils and thickens. Stir for 1 minute then add cheeses.
Heat 2T oil over medium heat in another pan. Add onion and stir until translucent. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add ground beef (or crumbles) and cook, breaking up chunks. Add broth. When broth has absorbed and beef mixture has cooked, gently mix in squash.
To prepare the lasagna, spray a 9×13-in baking dish with cooking spray. Spread a little bit of the béchamel sauce on bottom and arrange 4 lasagna noodles. Top with beef/squash mixture then another layer of béchamel sauce. Place 4 noodles on top and repeat 2 times or until mixtures run out. Top last layer with mozzarella cheese.
Cover lasagna with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 5-10 minutes until cheese browns.