Butternut Squash Lasagna

There are 100's of recipes for this on-line, but none were exactly what I wanted to so I made up my own. Most called for a white sauce but I liked the idea of a kind of smokey red. This version is vegetarian.

This is not a quick to make recipe but perfect when snowed in.



1 big butternut squash. Peeled and cut into pieces (roughly 2-3 inches).
Olive Oil
3 Garlic cloves
1 Onion (chopped)
2 tbsp basil
2 tbsp oregano
3 tbsp flat leaf parsley
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 Bay leafs
2 28oz cans tomatoes (can do both diced or one diced and one puree)

1-2 Onions (sliced thin)
1 tsb Sugar

1 15oz container ricotta
1 egg
3 tbsp flat leaf parsley
1 tsp nutmeg
Salt and better

2 cups shredded cheese
1 ball fresh motz

9 lasagna noodles (cooked per box)

Squash
Heat oven to 450.
Drizzle olive oil over squash and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook until tender and some pieces browning. (30-40 min). Check and turn a couple times.

Sauce
Heat 2 tbsp oil in sauce pan and add garlic and chopped onion, cook until onions are soft. Add next 3 herbs and cook 1 min. Add vinegar and cook another minute. Add tomatoes and bay leaf. Cover and simmer for at least 40 min. Stir a few times.

Caramelized Onions
In saute pan heat tbsp of olive old over high heat. Add onions. When browning starts add 1 tsp sugar. Continue to cook over high heat until caramelized.

Filling
In large bowl add ricotta, 1 cup shredded cheese, egg, parsley, nutmeg, salt & pepper and mix.

Take 3+ cups roasted squash and put in food processor, pulse until partially smooth but not pureed. Add to ricotta mixture.

Assembly
Spoon tomato sauce in bottom of pan
Add 1st layer of noodles (3 across)
Cover with ricotta mix and sprinkle with cheese and cover with sauce
Sprinkle with 1/2 the onions (I forgot the onions until assembly was done so I just added them on top.
Repeat.
After final noodle layer top with cause and top with sliced rounds of motz.

Bake 30-40 min at 450.

For this posted recipe I decreased the amount of squash from what I used yesterday. I had an extra layer of just squash, but it might be a little much. The leftover squash can be a side dish in another meal or used to make ravioli filling.