Butternut Squash Lasagna

We make a lot of lasagna. It takes a wee bit longer than our regular dinners, but we always get at least two dinners and a lunch out of a single lasagna. And that means we get at least one night of not having to cook…and that’s kind of awesome. This recipe is adapted from Care2.

1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into ½-inch pieces

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp maple syrup

¾ cup golden raisins

¾ cup pine nuts

1 tsp. minced garlic

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter

5 Tbsp. flour

5 cups skim milk

8 ounces shredded mozzerella

¾ cup grated parmesan

12 lasagna noodles

1. Toast pine nuts for 3 minutes in 350° oven.

2. Preheat oven to 400°.

3. In a large bowl, combine squash, olive oil and maple syrup. Spread on baking sheet. Roast for 30 minutes or so. (Squash should be tender and lightly browned.)

4. Turn oven down to 350°.

5. In a large bowl, toss squash with raisins and toasted pine nuts.

6. In a 3-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium low heat. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Whisk in flour and cook—keep whisking—for 3 minutes or until it becomes un-whiskable.

7. Add milk in a stream—don’t stop whisking—then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. (While it’s simmering, feel free to whisk at your leisure.) Remove from heat.

8. Mix cheeses together in a medium bowl.

9. Spray a 13 x 9-inch baking dish with olive oil. Spread 2/3 cup of the sauce (that’s the milk mixture) in the bottom of the dish. Add lasagna noodles. Cover with another 2/3 cup sauce, then add half of the butternut squash mixture. Sprinkle with cheese. Add another layer of noodles, 2/3 cup sauce, the rest of the butternut squash mixture and another sprinkle of cheese. Add the final noodle layer, cover with the remaining sauce* and the rest of the cheese.

10. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes (until the top is golden and bubbling). Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

*The amount of sauce you’ll have left depends on how much it reduced while simmering. Use your judgment—you need the sauce to make sure the no-boil noodles cook, but you don’t want the lasagna to be excessively gloppy. Basically, if you feel like the lasagna will be swimming in slop if you pour all of the remaining sauce in, don’t do it.