Proud Italian Cook

Butternut Squash Lasagna, Revisited

October 5, 2009 by Marie 47 Comments

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 love serving this along side a roasted turkey on Thanksgiving, to me it’s the perfect complement and a great pasta side dish.

Over the years I’ve made it so many different ways with a little tweaking here and there. I updated some of the pictures in this post to reflect that. Time has sure past since I first posted this back in 2009, and now it’s almost 2020 and I’m still making butternut squash lasagna!

I love adding a bechamel sauce that’s infused with herbs and garlic. In the past I infused the sauce with roasted garlic and rosemary then moved on to roasted garlic and sage. When you infuse those flavors into warm bechamel sauce it takes the whole lasagna to another level of flavor and taste!

Sometimes I’ll add on the layers ricotta cheese mix and some shredded mozzarella, sometimes no ricotta just bechamel, parmesan, the squash and maybe even another cheese like shredded fontina which melts really nice, it’s all good!

I think an important thing to remember is to make enough sauce. When I first started making this four cups of sauce was not enough because the pasta seems to soak it up and also you want a nice layer ending on the top, as well as some for serving.

And if you’re going to use the no-boil pasta, well that tends to need a lot of sauce anyway. So you be the judge, but I would start out with six cups of sauce, it’s better to have more than not enough.

I used one large butternut squash which was perfectly enough for a 13×9 pan.

Peel the squash, slice it, scoop out the seeds and cut it into chunks. Place them onto a baking sheet seasoned with salt and pepper and an olive oil drizzle, roast in the oven at 400F until fork tender but not mushy. In the same oven I roasted 1 small head of garlic wrapped in tin foil.

In the meantime, make your basic bechamel sauce, when finished add in a few of the roasted and smashed garlic gloves, you be the judge on how much you want in there, toss in some fresh sage leaves and a good handful of grated parmesan, salt and pepper.

Let the magic happen and let it infuse for a good 20-30 minutes, give it a taste to see if it meets your flavor standards, if not add more of something.

If you’re going to add ricotta to your layers whisk an egg into it along with a generous helping of grated parmesan, salt and pepper. Start layering with the sauce, then pasta, more sauce, pasta, the squash, ricotta mixture, shredded cheese and more grated cheese.

Then repeat, ending with sauce on top of the last layer of pasta.

Bake covered with tin foil at 375F. for about 30 minutes, take the foil off and stick it under the broiler until golden brown for a few seconds.

Feel free to use any kind of lasagna noodles, boil, no boil, whole wheat or white lasagna noodles, again just make plenty of sauce (which I feel is key).

I’ve even made a noodle-less version of a butternut squash lasagna which is equally delicious and perfect for those who are gluten free.

Butternut Squash Lasagna, Revisited

Author: Marie

Ingredients

FOR THE BECHAMEL
6 cups whole milk
12 TBL. butter
12 TBL. flour
¾ cup grated parmesan cheese
handful of rosemary or sage
roasted garlic cloves, smashed
Melt butter in a saucepan, whisk in flour. Cook and stir for around 1 minute to cook off the raw and starchy taste of the flour. Whisk in the milk stirring frequently until it starts to bubble ad thicken.
Toss in the smashed roasted garlic, herbs and parmesan to infuse sauce. Let it sit for 20- 30 minutes
Taste for salt and pepper and remove herbs.
ROASTING THE BUTTERNUT SQUASH
1 large squash, peeled and cut into cubes, drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper and placed on a sheet pan until tender but not mushy at 400 degrees.

Instructions

Feel free to use any type of pasta noodle, no boil, boil, whole wheat or plain white or even fresh.
You can add a ricotta mixture as stated in the post along with shredded fontina or mozzarella, the squash and bechamel.
You can make it without ricotta by just using the butternut squash, shredded cheese and bechamel.
You can make it noodle-less as shown in the post with a link by slicing planks of squash into . "pasta noodles".

47 Comments Filed Under: Fall, Pasta, Side Dishes, Vegetables Tagged: autumn comfort food, butternut squash lasagna, fall food, gluten free lasagna, holiday dish, sage infused bechmal

Arborio Raisin Rice Pudding

September 29, 2009 by Marie 32 Comments

Now that fall is officially here and the air is cool and crisp outside, inside I’m thinking more and more about comfort foods. Is there anything more comforting then a bowl of old fashioned rice pudding? It’s simple, straight forward, none pretentious and quite economical!

There are so many variations using different ingredients such as butter, egg yolks and cream. Different techniques in cooking it, baked, stove top, and even some crock pot recipes. Fresh fruit, dried fruit, nuts, raisins, coconut, and some even spiked with liqueur, just to name a few.

In my house it’s golden raisins with cinnamon and vanilla, although I have been known to spike it with some Amaretto at times, (so good!) I don’t use cream or egg yolks or butter, because frankly we don’t need it, and believe me you won’t miss it.

If you want to fancy it up you can make or buy some dried apples and stick them into the rice pudding for a pretty presentation, I’ve done that a couple of times but normally I just eat it as is, the flavors are “fancy” all on it’s own.

I had so much success with oven drying tomatoes, that I thought I’d give it a try with some apples and pears. It took a lot less time and the result was great, and even 2 weeks later they were still moist and chewy! Make sure to store them in an airtight container.

I used a mandolin for slicing my up my fruit which I then placed single layer on a baking sheet topped with parchment paper. They took about 3 hours to dry in a 225 F oven. I sprinkled cinnamon sugar on mine before baking, but you don’t have to.

Scenes from a pumpkin farm we went to over the weekend, don’t you just love fall, it’s my favorite season.

Arborio Raisin Rice Pudding

Author: Marie

Ingredients

5 cups whole milk
1/ 2 heaping cup of arborio rice
½ cup sugar
pinch of salt
½ golden raisins
2 teaspoons good vanilla
optional cinnamon or a drizzle of amaretto liquor

Instructions

Combine the milk, sugar and salt in a sauce pan on medium heat, when it reaches a boil add the rice, stir and reduce to a slow simmer.
You need to stir the rice mixture frequently and total time could take up to an hour.
When you see it thicken up nicely like a loose pudding it's finished.
Remove pan from heat add the raisins and vanilla.
Let it cool down, then cover the top of the mixture with plastic wrap and refrigerate til cool.
You can sprinkle with cinnamon or omit the cinnamon and spoon some amaretto liquor on top.
I highly suggest you double the recipe, you'll be glad you did!
Enjoy!

Buon Appetito!

32 Comments Filed Under: Desserts, Fruit, Rice and Risotto Tagged: arborio rice, comfort desserts, oven dried apples, rice pudding

Ziti with Caramelized Onions and Portobellos "O Foods"

September 24, 2009 by Marie 27 Comments

This is a healthy quick meal you could put together during the week and I promise you,
you won’t even miss the meat! The sweetness of the caramelized onions, paired with the earthy flavor of the portobellas are a perfect combination. I decided to use a whole wheat pasta which held up perfectly to the dense texture of the mushrooms.

Ingredients:

3 Onions
1 Leek, White Portion Only
3T Olive Oil
1 t Sugar
1 Pound Portobella Mushrooms Cut Into 1/4″ Slices
3 Garlic Cloves Minced
1/2 Pound ziti
Fresh Chopped Parsley
Grated Romano or Parmesan Cheese
Salt and Pepper

In a large skillet, combine onions, leek and 2 T of olive oil. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring to coat well. Stir in some salt and the sugar. Cover skillet and cook on low for about 45 minutes, or until onions are light brown. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking. Next, stir in mushrooms and remaining olive oil and a T of water if mixture seems to dry. cover and cook on medium for 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, parsley, salt and pepper.

Cook pasta Al dente, drain and add to mushroom mixture. Serve with grated cheese and fresh chopped parsley.
Recipe adapted from a 2005, Tastes of Italia magazine.

I’m sending this dish off in my support of Ovarian Cancer Awareness, my own mother was a victim of this disease at a very young age. If you can, please join in the support!

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, and for the second year in a row, Sara of Ms Adventures in Italy and Michelle of Bleeding Espresso are hosting the O Foods Contest to raise awareness of this important health issue.
There are TWO WAYS to take part in the O Foods Contest:
ONE: Post a recipe to your blog using a food that starts or ends with the letter O (e.g., oatmeal, orange, okra, octopus, olive, onion, potato, tomato); include this entire text box in the post; and send your post url along with a photo (100 x 100) to ofoods[at]gmail[dot]com by 11:59 pm (Italy time) on Monday, September 28, 2009.
PRIZES for recipe posts:
1st: Signed copy of Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen by Gina DePalma, Executive Pastry Chef of Babbo Ristorante in NYC, who is currently battling ovarian cancer, inspired this event, and will be choosing her favorite recipe for this prize;
2nd: Signed copy of Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home by Mario Batali (winner chosen by Sara);
3rd: Signed copy of Vino Italiano: The Regional Italian Wines of Italy by Joseph Bastianich (winner chosen by Michelle).
OR
TWO: If you’re not into the recipe thing, simply post this entire text box in a post on your blog to help spread the word and send your post url to ofoods[at]gmail[dot]com by 11:59 pm (Italy time) on Monday, September 28, 2009.
Awareness posts PRIZE:
One winner chosen at random will receive a Teal Toes tote bag filled with ovarian cancer awareness goodies that you can spread around amongst your friends and family.
———
From the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund:
Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic cancers in the United States and is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women; a woman’s lifetime risk of ovarian cancer is 1 in 67.
The symptoms of ovarian cancer are often vague and subtle, making it difficult to diagnose, but include bloating, pelvic and/or abdominal pain, difficulty eating or feeling full quickly; and urinary symptoms (urgency or frequency).
There is no effective screening test for ovarian cancer but there are tests which can detect ovarian cancer when patients are at high risk or have early symptoms.
In spite of this, patients are usually diagnosed in advanced stages and only 45% survive longer than five years. Only 19% of cases are caught before the cancer has spread beyond the ovary to the pelvic region.
When ovarian cancer is detected and treated early on, the five-year survival rate is greater than 92%.
And remember, you can also always donate to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund at our page through FirstGiving!
Please help spread the word about ovarian cancer.Together we can make enough noise to kill this silent killer.