Béchamel/Winter Squash Lasagna
[bg_faq_start]
Cascading Kitchen notes:
- Bake multiple winter squash on the same day. Cut the winter squash into med. size chunks, seeded but not skinned. Lay these pieces out on a baking sheet. Cook until soft then allow to cool. Remove the meat of the squash and puree in the food processor. Freeze squash puree in quart containers.Use this in the waffle recipe,as a side dish or this lovely Lasagna.
Béchamel/Winter Squash Lasagna
If you’ve already frozen some cooked, pureed winter squash, assembly of this fit-for-company recipe is a lot faster.
- 4 cups of cooked, pureed winter squash, set aside
- Braise 1 bunch of any greens you might have. See How to Braise Greens. It works for all greens. Set aside.
Sauté in 1/3 cup of olive oil:
- 1 large onion- chopped
- 3 garlic cloves-minced
- 1/8 tsp or a large pinch of nutmeg
- 1 tsp sea salt
Cook until the onion is nearly caramelized. Fold in cooked squash and set aside in a separate bowl until ready to assemble the lasagna.
In the same sauté pan make a white sauce (béchamel):
- Melt 6 Tb butter
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg-more if you’re a fan of nutmeg
- 1 tsp sea salt
- Whisk in 6 Tb flour
Cook in the butter until lightly golden. Slowly whisk in 4 cups of whole milk and continue stirring until it begins to thicken. Don’t stop stirring until it comes to a boil. This will take awhile so be patient. Cook this sauce very gently on simmer for 20 minutes.
Assembling the lasagna:
A 9 x 13 casserole dish works well.
- Pour 1 cup of béchamel sauce on the bottom of the pan
- Top with no-cook lasagna noodles making a single layer.
- Spread the braised greens in this layer and top w/ ½ cup of béchamel.
- Top with another layer of no-cook lasagna noodles.
- Spread 2 cups of winter squash puree
- Top with lasagna noodles
- Pour 1 cup of béchamel sauce over the noodles
- Sprinkle 2 cups of whole milk mozzarella over the sauce
- Spread 2 more cups of winter squash puree
- Top with lasagna noodles
- Pour the rest of the sauce over the top.
- Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees until bubbly. Cover w/ foil for the first 35 min.
You can also use sautéed mushrooms or caramelized onions as layers in the lasagna