What do you get when you combine macaroni and cheese, lasagna, and healthy? You get this amazing lasagna that will rock your world.
I was a little nervous about Bjork liking this (or, more accurately, not liking this). After all, it does seem a tad girly considering I took out the meat and replaced it with a delicate butternut squash puree.
But not to worry – he told me he liked it and ate the whole piece! How lucky am I to have a butternut-squash-lasagna-liking husband! Or at least one who pretends to like it! It’s awesome.
I was also worried about this being kind of time-consuming. I was looking for some inspiration online and found one recipe that required roasting the squash, pureeing it, and straining it through a cheesecloth – all before assembling and baking.
- Ummm… what is cheesecloth?
- Where the heck do I buy a cheesecloth?
- Can it be done without a cheesecloth?
Answer: Yes! You will love me for this. Unless you love using a cheesecloth.
I did add an extra 100 calories per slice by topping each piece with Gouda cheese and broiling it for a few minutes. I think standing up to get yourself seconds will burn enough calories to negate the extra cheese.
- 4 cups butternut squash puree (i.e. Farmer’s Market Organic canned)
- 1½ tbs. sel de cuisine (features cinnamon, rosemary, and salt)
- 1 tsp. minced garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
- 15 oz. part-skim ricotta cheese
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 8 short whole wheat lasagna noodles
- sliced cheese to top pieces (optional – but not really)
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine squash purée, sel de cuisine, garlic, salt, and pepper; mix well. Combine ricotta, ¼ cup Parmesan, salt and pepper in second bowl and mix well.
- Coat 8×8-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Put a little butternut squash on the bottom of the pan. Place 2 noodles in bottom of dish, overlapping slightly. Spread half of squash mixture over noodles. Layer 2 more noodles on top, and spread with half of ricotta mixture. Repeat layers—noodles, squash, noodles, ricotta—then sprinkle with remaining ¼ cup Parmesan.
- Bake for 45 minutes. Top with sliced cheese and bake/broil an additional 5-10 minutes.
Breaking News: Bjork just walked by me eating a jumbo bowl of Fruity Pebbles (30 minutes after eating lasagna). Maybe the squash didn’t quite do it for him after all.
But if you’re a butternut squash lover (and looking for healthy comfort food), I promise you will love this as much as I did!
Or at least you’ll tell me you love it before you go for the Fruity Pebbles.
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Did you cook the noodles before putting them into the lasagna?
Nope!
Just finished making this! So yummy!
Glad you liked it Kristin!
Just finished making-was good but very dry, even though I covered it. I would recommend adding a liquid and pre- cooking the noodles. My noodles were still crunchy after 45-50 minutes. It has potential but the recipe needed something else for flavoring as well. Will tweak for next time!
Bummer! I haven’t made this in such a long time, and all I remember was that I loved it when I made it, but that it was more dried out the next day. It sounds like you have some good ideas for tweaking.
Good luck!
I made this yesterday and I mixed soft/silken tofu with the ricotta cheese to boost up the protein content. As a result, no cereal eating for me or my b/f after eating this lasagna! Also, I added some spinach to the ricotta cheese to add some color..
So yuuuummy! I just looove butternut squash!
Great idea with the tofu!!
I am going to make this next week with a friend. So excited! Looks and sounds delicious!
what do you do if you can’t find sel de cuisine?
Just replace it with another seasoning. It’s like a seasoning mix, so just make sure to add some dried herbs that you like so it doesn’t lose flavor.