sage infused bechmal Archives - Proud Italian Cook

Individual Butternut Squash Lasagna with Infused Bechamel

Here is yet another version of a butternut squash lasagna in mini form, individually portioned. Round slices of butternut squash are layered in with a creamy ricotta mixture and topped off with a sage, garlic and parmesan infused bechamel.
You can serve this as a main course along with a pretty fall salad, or as a side, with lets say, a pork roast, yum! I’ve done it both ways. This recipe requires no pasta at all, you won’t even miss it, I promise!
I can’t explain how good this is, you’re going to have to try it for yourself!

To make this, look for a squash that is pretty much the same width from top to bottom as in my photo, my slices were about 4 inches round. If you can’t find one like that, get one with a long neck.
Then just peel, slice, and roast them on a baking sheet drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper at 375 until fork tender.

Mix up a pound of ricotta with 1/3 cup of grated parmesan or romano cheese, a good handful of chopped fresh spinach or kale, 1 egg, salt and pepper. This will be spread in between your layers.
I like using 3 slices of squash per mini lasagna.

For the bechamel sauce, melt 5 tablespoons of butter, whisk in 5 tablespoons of flour, cook until it bubbles a little then add 4 cups of milk, 1 1/2 cloves of minced garlic, 4 sage leaves and a handful of grated parmesan, whisk until smooth and thickened.

Spoon a layer of the bechamel on the bottom of your casserole dish first, then place your mini lasagna right in there. Spoon bechamel over the top.

Bake until ricotta mixture is hot and cooked through. Garnish with a sage leaf.
Fall is in the air!

Butternut Squash Lasagna, Revisited

I love this time of year it puts me in the mood for butternut squash lasagna. Have you tried it yet? If you haven’t, you must. I’ve made this before and even posted about it, but this time I changed things up a bit by infusing fresh sage along with roasted garlic in the warm bechamal sauce, and I also added ricotta cheese between my layers. This is crazy good!

I used one large butternut squash, cut in half, scooped out the seeds, peeled it and cut into chunks. Placed them on a baking sheet seasoned with salt and pepper and olive oil drizzle, 400F 15-20 minutes until fork tender, not mushy. In the same oven I roasted 1 head of garlic wrapped in tin foil.

In the meantime, make your basic bechamal sauce, when finished add in the roasted and smashed garlic, along with some fresh sage leaves and a good handful of grated parmesan. Let it infuse for a good 20-30 minutes before layering your lasagna.

Whisk an egg into the ricotta along with a generous helping of grated parmesan, salt and pepper. Layering with sauce, pasta, more sauce, the squash, ricotta mixture, and more grated cheese. Bake covered with tin foil 375F, for about 30 minutes, take the foil off and stick it under the broiler till golden brown. Feel free to use boil, no boil, whole wheat or white lasagna noodles, just make plenty of sauce so you have a little extra for serving.