This is a delicious lasagna that is rich with both sweet and nutty flavors. Sage is the perfect complement to butternut squash and the hazelnuts. This vegetarian dish is excellent without tasting like it’s trying to be a “meatless” version of a classic dish.
I hosted my charitable giving group a couple of weeks ago for our monthly potluck and decided I wanted to make a lasagna. So instead of rummaging through various cookbooks I went to my one-stop oracle – my iPhone – and touched on the Epicurious app (if you figured out what I just said there, congratulations, you are living in the 21st century).
For the unitiated, Epicurious.com (a cooking and recipe website) has placed itself in the pockets of frantic cooks everywhere who are trolling grocery store aisles trying to figure out what to make for dinner, or trying to remember that elusive ingredient they were supposed to pick up. On the Epicurious app for the iPhone you can search rated recipes until you find one that appeals to you, and voila, the ingredients are right there on the screen. I searched for “vegetarian lasagna” and found this: Butternut Squash and Hazelnut Lasagna.
Let me just say: Wow. You need to download this into your favorite recipes ASAP. It is both creamy and nutty and the white sauce doesn’t make it seem like a meat lasagna “poser.”
It went over very well at the potluck, and even won kudos from Angela who declares to disdain all things with hazelnuts (hazelnuts are a bit over used in chocolate and coffee, true).
Give it a go, and let me know what you think. Or just send me a piece. My leftovers were gone the next day.
Butternut Squash and Hazelnut Lasagna
Tech-savvy
For filling
1 large onion, chopped
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2 pieces (just look for those pre-cut packages in produce)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
4 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
1 cup hazelnuts (4 ounces), loose skins rubbed off with a kitchen towel, and coarsely chopped
For sauce
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 cups milk
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
For lasagna assembling
1/2 lb fresh mozzarella, grated (2 cups)
1 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (3 ounces)
12 sheets no-boil lasagna (1/2 lb)
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Filling: Cook the onion in butter in deep 12-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring until golden, about 10 minutes. Add squash (running the squash through a food processor will get the chunks small enough so they soften quickly), garlic salt, and white pepper, stirring occasionally until squash is tender, about 15 minutes (begin sauce, below). Remove from heat and stir in parsley, sage, and nuts. Cool.
3. Sauce: Cook garlic in butter in a 3-quart saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring, about 1 minute. Whisk in flour and milk and stir slowly about 3 minutes. Add bay leaf and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Whisk in salt and white pepper and remove from heat. Discard bay leaf.
4. Lasagna assembly: Butter a 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Toss cheese together. Spread 1/2 cup sauce in baking dish and cover with three pasta sheets, leaving spaces between the sheets. Spread 2/3 cup sauce and one-third of the filling, then sprinkle with 1/2 cup of cheese. Repeat layering two more times, beginning with the pasta sheets and ending with the cheese. Top with remaining 3 pasta sheets, sauce, and cheese.
5. Tightly cover baking dish with buttered foil and bake lasagna in middle of oven 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake until golden and bubbling, 10 to 15 minutes more. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t get too brown. Let lasagna stand 15 to 20 minutes before serving.
Sounds yummy!
Mmmm. Sounds like a good place for hazelnuts. My aunt used to talk about gathering them in the fall in Michigan. If I had room I would grow a hazelnut tree, they are so good. Except then you get in a fight with squirrels…
[…] is a perfect potluck item to bring, and although I love this Butternut Squash and Hazelnut Lasagna, I thought our get together would be a good opportunity to try out Jeremy’s […]