My best friend lives in St. Louis, and when my husband and I went to visit her she took us to this awesome little restaurant that had Butternut Squash Lasagna on their menu. It was delicious, and ever since I’ve been thinking about it so I finally made lasagna and incorporated butternut squash and this is in the category of a recipe that is a MUST MAKE!
The recipe starts by roasting the veggies (to be honest I did this in the morning when I was getting ready for work) and then uses no cook lasagna noodles. I just came home from work, did the remaining prep work, assembled it and then threw it in the oven! So delish!
Ingredients
- 5 Roma tomatoes
- 3-4 garlic cloves whole and peeled
- 1 small butternut squash cut into large chunks and insides cleaned out
- 2 cups baby carrots cut in half or 4s
- 1 can 14.5 oz diced tomatoes with garlic and oil
- 1 package 8oz Oven Ready Lasagna noodles
- 1 container 15 oz Light Ricotta
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 cups low fat shredded Mozzarella cheese
- 1 egg
- 2 Tbs fresh herbs chopped (1 or Tbs dried-I used parsley, thyme and oregano)
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- For the roasted veggies: Preheat the oven to 450, and start by lining a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Core the tomatoes and then cut them in 4, line them up on the baking sheet. Then cut the baby carrots and put them on the baking sheet, next cut the butternut squash in large chunks (I left the skin on) and put on the baking sheet as well. Place the garlic cloves on the sheet as well. I sprinkled the veggies with a little olive oil, and then sprinkled with salt and pepper. Bake for half an hour, and then remove from oven and allow to cool (I just put the tomatoes and garlic in one container and then the butternut squash and carrots in another and put them in the fridge until I was ready to use. The Butternut Squash is so much easier to peel when it is cool and not burning your hands!
- To make the lasagna preheat oven to 400. To make the tomato sauce, in a food processor or blender empty the can of diced tomatoes, add the tomatoes and garlic you roasted, and then about half of the butternut squash. Pulsate or blend for about one minute or until desired sauce consistency is reached (I like the sauce smooth and not too chunky). Set Aside.
- In a bowl combine the ricotta, the egg, the Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup Mozzarella and the herbs, stir well. In another bowl add the carrots and then peel and cut the butternut squash into chunks. To assemble: in a baking dish add 1/3 of the tomato sauce and spread evenly across the bottom, then arrange 3 of the oven ready lasagna noodles, then spread 1/2 of the ricotta mixture over the noodles, then cover with 3 more noodles. Next add another 1/3 of the tomato sauce and on top of that the roasted carrots and butternut squash. On top of the veggies add another layer of 3 pasta sheets. Add the remaining ricotta mixture and on top of that another the remaining 3 sheets of pasta. Add the remaining sauce, and then then remaining Mozzarella cheese. Bake for 30-45 minutes and enjoy!
- The layers should be: Tomato sauce, pasta, ricotta, pasta, tomato sauce, veggies, pasta, ricotta, pasta, tomato sauce, mozzarella.
How I arranged the roasted veggies
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