fall meal Archives - Proud Italian Cook

September 16, 2020 by Marie 3 Comments

As soon as the weather starts to change into cooler days and nights, I’m in the stores buying squash. Squash of any kind is so versatile and you can create so many healthy and delicious meals with it.

Tarts are the perfect way to showcase winter squash, it can be served as a meatless main dish or a tasty appetizer or side, either way you can’t go wrong!

For this tart I paired creamy ricotta with delicata squash, delicata is easy to work with because the skin is nice and thin and totally edible, but you can certainly make this with butternut squash you just have to peel it first.

The crust is homemade ( which is a breeze to make in the food processor) and has the addition of polenta which gives it the ultimate crunch factor. As much as I like to buy pre-made crusts nothing compares to this one.

Topped with crispy sage and toasted pepitas, this tart screams FALL!

I used two delicata squash, sliced them into half inch rounds then scooped out the seeds. Placed them onto a baking sheet and roasted them beforehand.

Ready for the oven with a quick drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of parmesan before baking.

A crunchy crust with the creamy, cheesy filling of ricotta, topped with the sweet rich flavor of the delicata squash, it’s the ultimate combo!

If you want to try another version, here’s one I did a few years back, using different veggies with the same delicious crust.

I hope you make this amazing tart and serve up a slice to your family and friends this fall season.

5.0 from 2 reviews

Squash And Ricotta Rustic Tart

Author: Marie

Ingredients

2 delicata squash, cut into ½ inch rings with the seeds scooped out
FILLING
1 cup ricotta, drained of moisture
1 finely minced garlic clove
2 eggs, 1 for the filling and 1 to brush on top
½ cup of grated romano or parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
DOUGH
1 cup of all purpose flour (unbleached)
½ cup of instant polenta or fine cornmeal
½ teaspoon of salt and a pinch of black pepper
6 tablespoons of cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
¼ to ½ cup of ice water
fresh sage leaves
pepitas (optional)

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 400F
Place rings of delicata onto a baking sheet drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper, roast til lightly golden on each side, then remove and let them cool down.
Prepare the dough in a food processor by pulsing the flour, polenta, salt and pepper together. Add the butter and process until combined. Then while the machine is running add the ice water down the tube a little at a time until the dough starts to come together in a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for ½ hour.
Meanwhile mix up the ricotta in a bowl along with the grated cheese, garlic, salt, pepper and 1 egg.
Remove the dough from the fridge, let it sit at room temp for 15 minutes the on parchment roll it out to about 12 inches in diameter. Take your time rolling then place the whole thing onto a baking sheet.
Spread the ricotta mixture onto the dough leaving a 2 inch border all around. Place your roasted squash on top all around. Fold the edges up and pleat where needed to seal it in good.
Brush the crust with the remaining egg, you won't use it all.
Sprinkle the edge with grated cheese, black pepper .
Drizzle the top with olive oil.
Bake around 35 minutes at 400F or until crust is deep golden and ricotta is set.
To garnish the top, drizzle a bit of olive oil in a small pan and crisp up the sage and toss in pepeitas to get golden and arrange all over the finished tart.
Enjoy!

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 and shredded mozzarella 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 to something like a pork roast, so good! I’ve done it both ways. This recipe uses no pasta at all and 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 butternut 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 and then cut the slices about 1/4 inch thick.
Then just peel the squash, slice, and roast the slices on a baking sheet drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper at 400 F until tender when pierced with a knife.

Mix up a pound of ricotta ( depending on how many squash slices you get, you’ll probably have some left over ) with 1/3 cup of grated parmesan or romano cheese, a good handful of chopped fresh spinach, kale or parsley and about a cup of shredded mozzarella along with 1 egg, salt and pepper. This will be spread in between your layers.
I like using 3 slices of squash per mini lasagna using maybe a tablespoon or so of the cheese mixture in between the layers.

For the bechamel sauce, melt 5 tablespoons of butter, whisk in 5 tablespoons of flour, cook until it bubbles a little then add 3-1/2 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 first slice down, a dollop of the cheese mixture, another slice, more cheese on top then top it off with the last slice and spoon some bechamel over the top.