Sausage and Butternut Squash Lasagna

The inspiration for this recipe came from my cousin Jen. I had been craving the flavors of butternut squash, and sage, and sausage but didn't know how I wanted to combine them - I did know that I didn't want to go through the trouble of making my own ravioli, not this weekend at least. And then Jen told me about a lasagna she had made recently and I knew what I had to do. So here it is,  my version of sausage and butternut squash lasagna. Special thanks to Stacy for her fantastic taste-testing skills.

Ingredients:

2 medium sized butternut squash (combined they should weigh 4-5 lb in the store, once prepped and cooked they will weigh considerably less), roasted (see Roasted Butternut Squash for details)

1 pound sweet Italian sausage
1/2 pound hot Italian sausage
10 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and well-drained
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 large garlic cloves, minced
Béchamel sauce (see Béchamel sauce for details)
15 ounces fresh ricotta cheese
1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded.

Start by roasting the butternut squash (see above). While the squash is roasting prepare the rest of the ingredients for the lasagna.

First remove the sausage from their casings. Each sausage link weighs about 1/4 pound. Below is a pound of sweet Italian sausage and 1/2 a pound of hot Italian sausage. I like the combination of the two but you could just use sweet Italian sausage if you don't like the hot.

Look for the end that isn't sealed and squeeze the sausage out of the casing, be sure to get it all out, discard the casings.

Brown the sausage over medium-high heat with a little olive oil. Be careful not to overcook the sausage, it will cook more in the lasagna once in the oven. Make sure you break up any large pieces. Remove the sausage from the pan and set aside. 

Reduce the heat to medium, add a little fresh olive oil to the pan and saute the onions and garlic until the onions are soft and tender but not browned. Add the spinach and saute for another minute or so until the spinach and onions are combined and the spinach is heated through. Remove from the heat and set aside. Stop and toss the squash at this point. 

Next bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the lasagna noodles until al dente (follow the cooking time on the box). While the noodles are cooking make the Béchamel sauce (see Béchamel sauce for details). When the noodles are done, drain but do not rinse them. Remove the squash from the oven and arrange all ingredients for easy lasagna assembly. 

Assemble the Lasagna:

You can really do this however you want. I like to create three layers of filling (so four layers of noodles), where each layer contains either sausage, spinach, or squash. You should always start with a thin layer of sauce on the bottom, this prevents the bottom layer of noodles from sticking and/or burning. 

Start with sauce on the bottom and then a layer of noodles. Next add all of the sausage and sprinkle a 1/4 of the shredded mozzarella on top of the sausage. Pour a ladle of sauce over the sausage and then another layer of noodles.

Then spread half of the ricotta cheese on the noodles, add all of the spinach mixture and sprinkle with a 1/4 of the shredded mozzarella. Ladle with sauce and then add another layer of noodles. 

Spread the other half of the ricotta on the noodles, add all of the squash and sprinkle with a 1/4 of the mozzarella. Ladle with sauce, add the last layer of noodles and sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella. 

Bake at 350F for 20 minutes covered (with aluminum foil) and 15 minutes uncovered. Spray the aluminum foil with cooking spray to prevent the cheese from sticking. I usually stick lasagna under the broiler for the last 2-3 minutes so the top will be golden. Serve with a green salad and crusty bread.

Bon appetit!