This Butternut Squash Lasagna recipe is amazing! Ricotta, pecorino, and sage add up to a mind-blowing dinner that will appeal to everyone.
Welcome to your new favorite fall dinner party: Sage Butternut Squash Lasagna! The flavors are impeccable: Creamy ricotta, bold pecorino and fresh sage envelop the sweet pumpkin in a cozy embrace. In fact, a hug is exactly what it feels like to take a bite! It’s a bit of prep work, but we’ve simplified a few steps so you don’t have to nap when you put it in the oven. Every bite is a little sweet, salty, creamy, herbaceous and utterly irresistible.
Butternut Squash Lasagna Ingredients
Butternut squash lasagna can be time-consuming to make, especially if you’re roasting the squash and making a béchamel sauce. This recipe is simplified: you boil the squash and make a quick sauce with ricotta cheese that doesn’t require heating on the stovetop. What you need for this recipe:
- Butternut Squashh (medium)
- Ricotta, mozzarella and pecorino cheese
- milk
- lasagne
- olive oil
- garlic powder, nutmeg salt and pepper
- Fresh sage
- lemon
This recipe is stunning: it’s great for entertaining! It’s perfect for fall dinners and would be a great recipe for a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.
How to Cut Butternut Squash: A Few Tips!
The hardest part about making butternut squash lasagna? Cut the pumpkin. Butternut squash is a notoriously difficult-to-manage vegetable. We have a few tricks for slicing a pumpkin without breaking a candy:
- watch the video! First, watch this short video on how to cut butternut squash. The method is worth taking a look at.
- Use a serrated peeler. A serrated blade makes peeling tough skin easier than a regular vegetable peeler that can easily slip off. You do not have ? try that serrated vegetable peeler.
- Cut off the neck and chop separately from the bottom. Don’t cut up the whole squash. Cut off the neck, peel and cut into squares! Do the same for the base.
Save some time in this Butternut Squash Lasagna
If you follow us you might know that we are looking for easy recipes (we even wrote a cookbook about it). Although lasagna is almost never easy, the concept is pretty simple. But a typical butternut squash lasagna requires a little prep work. Here’s how we simplified this recipe to save time:
- Cook the butternut squash instead of roasting it. Frying is our favorite technique for cooking vegetables, but it has a longer lead time. Roasted butternut squash takes about 45 minutes with the preheat time, while you can make a cooked squash in about 10 minutes with the cook time.
- Prepare a quick ricotta sauce. A béchamel sauce is more traditional in a butternut squash lasagna, but it’s also time-consuming and messy in a pan. This recipe uses ricotta, milk, and a few spices to make a quick and messy sauce.
The sauce isn’t a traditional cream sauce, so the lasagna has a firmer texture. It’s not as gooey as you might expect, but it’s 100% delicious.
Prepare and save information
Butternut Squash Lasagna is a bit of a weeknight project: It takes about an hour and a half from start to finish. We love making this for guests, but with a few extra prep steps, you can make it on a weekday too! Here are a few ideas:
- Prepare ideas: Cook butternut squash ahead of time and refrigerate until ready to cook (or use leftover roasted butternut squash). You can also cook the pasta ahead of time and store it in the fridge: just make sure it’s coated in a little olive oil before freezing.
- Or make the whole casserole ahead of time: Make the lasagna whole before baking, then refrigerate overnight. Increase cooking time as needed, until cheese is heated through and golden brown.
- Storage information: Refrigerate leftovers for up to 2 days. Or Freeze Them: The easiest way is to cut them into individual servings and freeze them in separate containers. To reheat, thaw the lasagne in the fridge, then place in a baking dish, cover with foil and heat at 400 degrees until heated through, about 15 minutes.
More butternut squash recipes
When squash season approaches, it’s easy to become obsessed with squash! Here are some of our best butternut squash recipes:
This Butternut Squash Lasagna Recipe is…
Vegetarian. For gluten-free pasta, use gluten-free pasta.
The description
This Butternut Squash Lasagna recipe is amazing! Ricotta, pecorino, and sage add up to a mind-blowing dinner that will appeal to everyone.
For the butternut squash
- 2– pound butternut squash (medium)
- ½ tbsp olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
For the lasagna
- 9 at 12 Lasagne (6 at 8th ounces, gluten free if needed)
- 1½ tablespoons chopped fresh sage, divided, plus additional leaves of choice
- seasoning of 1/2 lemon (approx. 2 teaspoons)
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons of milk
- 16 ounces (2 cups) whole milk ricotta cheese
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup grated pecorino cheese, divided
- 8 ounces (2 1/2 cups) grated mozzarella cheese, divided
- Preheat: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cook the pumpkin: Peel the butternut squash and cut into small cubes, about 1/2 inch thick. (For a video on how to cut butternut squash, see How to Cut a Butternut Squash! A serrated vegetable peeler works best.) Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Add the squash and cook until tender, about 5-6 minutes (test a piece to see if it’s done). Drain, then place in a medium bowl. Mix with olive oil, kosher salt and garlic powder.
- In the meantime cook the pasta*: Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Just beforehand, cook the pasta until just al dente, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Drain the pasta, then drizzle a baking sheet with some olive oil. Lay the pasta flat on the baking sheet, then turn them over so they are coated in olive oil to prevent sticking.
- Prepare Ricotta Sauce: In a medium bowl, add 1 tablespoon chopped sage, reserving about ½ tablespoon to garnish the lasagna. Add the lemon zest, nutmeg, ricotta, salt, pepper, and milk to the bowl. stir.
- Spread Lasagna: In a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish, spread ½ cup ricotta sauce over bottom of skillet. Then top with 1 layer of pasta, ½ of the cooked squash, a little 2/3 cup cheese sauce, 1 cup mozzarella, and ⅓ cup pecorino cheese. Repeat again: 1 layer of pasta (you may need to cut a pasta in half for the side, depending on your pan), leftover squash, some 2/3 cup cheese sauce, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, and ⅓ cup pecorino cheese. Finally, top with pasta (again, you may need to cut a pasta in half for the top layer), then spread the rest of the ricotta sauce with a spatula. Sprinkle the entire top with the remaining ½ cup mozzarella, ⅓ cup pecorino cheese, and ½ tablespoon sage.
- Cook Lasagna: Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and bake an additional 20 minutes until the top is golden brown. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for 2-3 days and reheated in a 400°F oven. (See preparation and storage instructions below.)
Remarks
*If using fresh lasagna noodles, they do not need to be cooked.
Prepare ideas: Cook butternut squash ahead of time and refrigerate until ready to cook. Cook the noodles in advance and cool them. Make sure they are coated with some olive oil.
Or make the whole casserole ahead of time: Make the lasagna whole before baking, then refrigerate overnight. Increase cooking time as needed, until cheese is heated through and golden brown.
Storage information: Refrigerate leftovers for up to 2 days. Or Freeze Them: The easiest way is to cut them into individual servings and freeze them in separate containers. To reheat, thaw the lasagne in the fridge, then place in a baking dish, cover with foil and heat at 400 degrees until heated through, about 15 minutes.
- Category: main course
- Method: Cooked
- Kitchen: pasta
- Diet: vegetarian
Keywords: Butternut Squash Lasagna Recipe for Butternut Squash Lasagna
