I had one more butternut squash in my pantry and wondered what to do with it. I’ve already had pasta with butternut squash sauce several times throughout the winter.
Now was the time for something equally creamy and comforting, but still a little bit different. It was an easy choice to make Butternut Squash Lasagna.
It is light and healthy, yet incredibly creamy version of favorite Italian dish. Vegetable is used instead of meat, part of fatty cheese is replaced with cottage cheese (or ricotta) and there is only 3 Tbsp oil (or butter) in white bechamel sauce to make it light.
There is no need cook the noodles – just throw it in a dish, layer with roasted (or cooked) butternut squach puree and white sauce, and bake. This Butternut Squash Lasagna recipe is both low in maintenance and high in flavor.
- 2 cups butternut squash puree
- 1 1/2 - 2 cups milk
- 2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
- a pinch of nutmeg
- a pinch of thyme
- salt
- WHITE SAUCE : BECHAMEL SAUCE
- 3 1/2 Tbsp oil or butter
- 3 1/2 Tbsp flour
- 2 1/4 cups milk
- a pinch of nutmeg
- salt ground white pepper
- 1/2 cup cottage cheese or ricotta cheese
- grated cheese of your choice
- no-boil lasagna noodles
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Combine butternut squash puree with milk, Parmesan cheese, nutmeg and thyme until you get creamy consistency. Season with salt to taste.
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FOR WHITE SAUCE:
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Heat flour in an empty saucepan just until hot. Remove from heat. Add oil and whisk. Add cold milk and whisk vigorously to avoid forming of clumps.
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Return to heat and cook, stirring, until thickened. Add grated nutmeg and season with salt and white pepper. Add cottage cheese (or ricotta cheese), grated cheese and mix to combine.
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TO ASSEMBLE LASAGNA:
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Spread a little bit of white sauce across bottom of the oiled baking pan (8x5x2 inches, 4 cups volume or 22×12.5×5 cm, 950 ml volume) just to cover the bottom. Top with noodles and spread some butternut squash mixture over noodles. Top with another layer of noodles and spread a layer of white sauce over it. Continue layering: noodles – squash – noodles – sauce until you use all ingredients. Finish with white sauce.
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Cover with aluminum foil and bake in 350F (175 C) oven for about 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 20 minutes more or until cooked through.
I made this with some changes. I added 1/2 c sugar, 1/2 t cinnamon and no salt in the squash mixture. I also added 3T sugar and 1/4 t cinnamon to the white sauce. I added 1/2 c mozzarella cheese. I wanted a sweet lasagna. It was soo good.
Adding 2cups of milk to 2cups of squash makes soup not something to spread over lasagna noodles this sucks
No, it doesn’t. No-boil lasagna noodles soak up a lot of liquid during baking. First time I made this recipe I used less milk and my lasagna turned out too dry in the end. I had to increase the amount of milk to get it right.
Found this recipe on Pinterest. I had frozen butternut squash cubes that I cooked per their instructions then puréed with the rest of the ingredients. This recipe was very good, thank you for sharing!
You’re welcome, Lindsey! I’m glad you liked it.