I had a great butternut squash harvest this year. It takes a very laissez-faire approach. You just have to be willing and have the space to let this vine completely take over your yard. Sure, there was a surge of squash vine borers at first and I didn’t think any would make it, but I just threw some dirt over the breached areas and they came back to outlive their attackers. Now I have about thirty beautiful butternut squash rolling around my patio.
There is so much you can do with butternut squash. The simplest way to cook them, is to cut them in half, scoop out the seeds, and roast them. This is usually what I do before I use them in any way, because you get around having to peel them(which is a chore). From there, they can be served simply as a side, thrown in soups and stews, they are excellent in chili, or puréed to make the iconic butternut squash soup. This lasagna I came up with, though, is by far, my favorite thing I have ever done with them.
I already had pesto in the freezer from our summer basil harvest and ricotta is the easiest cheese in the world to make. Here, I use the whey leftover from making the ricotta to juice up the lasagna as it can run a little dry sans marinara. I used my cousins local grass feed beef and my son, Leo, prides himself as being “a good noodle maker”. If you have kids and want them to get involved helping make dinner, I highly recommend getting a pasta roller. Its exactly like a play dough factory, except edible and without that play dough smell. Its messy, of course, but you are going to have to clean your kitchen after this anyway.
how to roast a butternut squash
- preheat oven to 375°F
- cut squash in half long ways
- scoop out the seeds
- score the flesh
- rub it down with fat(oil, ghee, butter, bacon grease, lard, etc… I used olive oil)
- sprinkle with salt and seasoning(for this I used paprika, garlic, and allspice)
- place squash flesh side down in a pan, pour a little water in the bottom, cover with aluminum foil
- check it in 30 minutes… it is done when a fork easily pierces through the skin
- after it cools, you can cut or pull the skin off
ingredients
- 1-2 roasted & mashed butternut squash(depending on how large)
- 2 lbs sautéed ground beef
- 1 pint ricotta cheese and its whey
- 1/2-1 pint pesto
- 2 cups flour
- 3 eggs
- shredded parmesan cheese(or other nutty, hard melting cheese)
- note: if using store-bought lasagna noodles, you wont need the egg and flour
optional
- add a splash of heavy cream or half & half when mashing up the squash
- layer in some sautéed spinach or kale
- sautée the beef with diced onion and garlic and herbs(thyme and/or oregano are my favorite)
- beating an egg and mixing it in with the ricotta and pesto will result in a less oily filling
- top the lasagna with some thinly sliced fresh tomato before adding the parmesan(one large tomato should do it)
pasta
- put a large pot of water on to boil
- heap flour in a large wooden bowl, indent the peak(like a volcano), & crack the eggs into the volcano
- beat the eggs with a fork, slowly adding in the flour around it until the dough can be worked by hand
- once dough has even consistency, make dough patties small enough to feed into your pasta roller
- on its widest setting, feed a patty into the pasta roller, folding the dough over and repeating two or three times before beginning to decrease, one notch at a time, to thin the pasta sheet out(I aim for level 6 on mine)
- repeat with remaining dough
- boil noodles for a minute, then strain
- note: To keep the pasta from sticking to the roller and each other as they come out, you just have to flour the hell out of it. You do not have to pre-boil fresh pasta before baking if you are going with a really juicy, saucy dish, but I do for this one.
process
- grease bottom of pan with olive oil
- layer noodles, pesto, mashed butternut squash, beef, & ricotta in that order until you run out of ingredients ending with a layer of noodle slathered with pesto
- top with shredded parmesan
- pour a cup or two of whey over the whole thing(depending on how thick it is)
- bake 20-30 minutes @ 375°F or until parm is a nice crusty golden brown
- note: You will have to cut the noodle to fit the pan. If you have enough little leftover scraps, you could have fun making them into little cannelloni(I have not tried this, please let me know if you do).
