Butternut Squash, Caramelized Onion and Spinach Lasagna
- Total Time
- 3 hours 15 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Advertisement
Ingredients
- 1large butternut squash
- 6tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 3red onions, medium, julienned
- 1pound part-skim ricotta cheese
- 2tablespoons rosemary, chopped
- 2eggs
- 1½cups grated Parmesan cheese, divided
- 3tablespoons unsalted butter
- Scant ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 3½cups whole milk
- Pinch nutmeg
- 1bag chopped frozen spinach (1-pound), defrosted and drained
- 6sheets fresh pasta, or no-boil lasagna noodles
- Salt
- Pepper
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
446 calories; 26 grams fat; 11 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 11 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 35 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 8 grams sugars; 20 grams protein; 802 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered by
Preparation
- Step 1
Roast the butternut squash. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut squash in half lengthwise; remove seeds. Place in roasting pan and drizzle with 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Place in oven and cook until soft all the way through, about 1 hour. Set aside until cool. When cooled, remove skin and place in food processor. Purée until smooth, season with salt and pepper to taste, and set aside.
- Step 2
To caramelize the onions: Place 3 tablespoons of olive oil in sauté pan. Heat until hot but not smoking; add onions. Toss to coat with oil. Turn heat down to medium and cook until onions are soft and browned, about 25 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
- Step 3
Prepare a ricotta cheese mixture. Mix ricotta cheese, chopped rosemary, eggs, half the grated Parmesan and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
- Step 4
Make a spinach Mornay sauce. Melt butter in a saucepan, add flour and stir. Cook 2 minutes. Add milk and stir until it comes to a boil. Add the rest of the grated Parmesan, the nutmeg and the defrosted spinach. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Step 5
Assemble the dish. Spray a 9” x 13” pan with cooking spray. Spread 1 cup of the spinach sauce on the bottom of the pan. Cover with a layer of fresh pasta sheets. Spread half of the roasted butternut squash on top of the pasta sheets. Top with another layer of pasta sheets. Spread ricotta cheese mixture on top of pasta sheets, and spread caramelized onion on top of ricotta mixture. Cover with an additional layer of pasta sheets. Top with the other half of the butternut purée and then another layer of pasta. Finish by using the rest of the spinach Mornay sauce for the top layer. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Uncover and cook for 15 minutes more.
Private Notes
Comments
This is a solid recipe and the end result was delicious. If I make this again there are a few things I'd do differently. 1) salt every component generously. 2) scoop the roasted butternut squash out of its skin instead of trying to "take off the skin" as the recipe suggests. 3) stop short of completely pureeing the squash. It wasn't the best texture. 4) change the butter/flour ratio to equal parts for the sauce. You end up with a dough for your roux w/ their instructions. I had to redo it.
Roast a whole garlic with the squash and squeeze garlic into mashed squash to liven up the taste of this lasagna. Also be sure to caramelized the onions well.
I enjoyed this recipe but I took a note from others that the flavor and texture needed help. I added garlic to the puree, and salted everything generously. For the sauce I added additional white cheddar and a bit of dry white wine. Finally, I added a bread crumb top. I melted a couple tbs. of butter then threw in 1-2 tbs. of chopped sage to fry for just a minute. Once it crisped, I added 1 c. of bread crumbs. I spread it all across the top of the lasagna and baked as instructed. Delicious!
Note: I wanted to add some protein so I added chicken sausage. But would be great without. But this is a haul to make IMHO and I like to cook. Day one: shortcut- Roasted an entire bulb of garlic to cubed butternut squash tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper. Cooled and stored squash in refrigerator. Agree that the garlic was a great addition. Mashed squash and garlic by hand left some lumps and didn’t purée. Also a good hint. You need some texture. Then sautéed 3 red onions in olive oil, salt and pepper until very soft and browned. As directed. Cooled and stored in refrigerator. Day Two: steamed fresh and frozen uncooked spinach (had some in freezer in a bag already)- drained water from spinach. Made mornay sauce as directed. Combined spinach and sauce. Made ricotta mix as directed. I used rosemary but if I’d had sage I would have used that actually. The rosemary was good. But I think sage would have been better. Cooked chicken sausage, cut up in small pieces. Cooked entire package of lasagne noodles as directed. Added olive oil after drained to keep them from sticking together. Used two square glass 9x9 baking dishes to assemble. Just added cooked chicken sausage to onion layer. Cooked as directed. Froze one for guests coming in a few weeks and ate the other! Tasty. But you have to be up for the many parts of this recipe. It’s time consuming.
I made this recipe last week after reading through the comments before starting to cook. I used precut squash and seasoned it well with garlic salt after tossing it with olive oil, put it in the oven to roast and started to julienne red onions. After finishing the prep, I started to cook the onions on medium/low. As the onions were cooking, I prepped the ingredients for the ricotta mixture. I combined the ricotta ingredients and continued cooking onions. I prepped the ingredients for Bechamel and continued cooking onions. I pulled out the squash to let it cool as the onions continued to cook. After the squash was cool, I processed it, not to a smooth consistency, but a thick one. Then as I carefully cooked and stirred the Bechamel, I stirred the onions in between. Once it was done, I prepped the pan and gathered the components of this dish. The onions were the last thing ready to go. It ended up with 4 layers of pasta, 2 of squash, 2 of ricotta, 2 of Bechamel and a single layer of onions…… After all that, I was not as pleased as I had hoped when we ate it that night. However, as it has been in the fridge and been our go-to leftovers, I like it better after a couple of days. The flavors melded together with time and I will make it again. But only when I have enough time to shop, cook and clean for an entire day😅
I used this recipe for inspiration, reading all 80+ comments to create a more veggie forward/less rich dish.If,like me,you appreciate other cooks riffs on NYT’s recipes read on (VEGGIES)*I roasted a butternut&koginut squash+a yam*sliced 9/10 zucchini&squash strips,Italian seasoning well&roast*roast 2orange pep*caramelized 3lg red O’s*sautéed @lb of baby Bella w/shallot*sautéed 2bunch,each:collards,kale&chard+shallot+12oz of baby spinach till dry&caramelized &*2 roast bulbs of garlic.ASSEMBLE/BAKE day,had a plan:***turn the winter squash into a sauce(thick soufflé consistency)I scooped flesh&threw in vitamix+1egg&milk only till blends+lots of fresh nutmeg+all roast garlic,1tsp maple syrup&lots of pepper.into the food processor greens-pulsing a few times b/f adding 8oz ricotta,2eggs,@ 4oz freshly grated Reggiano,lots of nutmeg,red pepper flakes&little salt-mix w/rest 8oz of ricotta.I soaked my GF noodles in hot water while oven PHeat. ASSEMBLE:I used 10”x8”x3”pan(need deep pan for this!)bottom of pan 3/4ish C but-nut mix+the juice of roasted peppers(waste not:),noodles,1/3 of the ricotta/greens mix,the zucchini strips1/3 carm onion,a scant layer of mozz,3/4cup Bnut mix,a scant layer of reggiano,noodles(REPEAT)X mushroom+1/3 carm onion atop next ricotta layer(REPEAT)w/roasted pep&rest of carm onion on top b/f final scant layer of mozz.Lightly grease parchment to cover&tightly cover with foil.bake 375° (I used convection setting)@ 30 min covered,uncovered @ 20/30 more.AMAZING!!