I love a butternut squash lasagna, but wanted to create a recipe for one without the use of a heavy béchamel sauce. So in place of the cream sauce, I instead used a touch of part-skim ricotta cheese, and topped the lasagna with a few rounds of creamy fresh mozzarella and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese for that nice salty bite. Creamy but not too heavy, that combination of flavors along with sauteed kale and roasted butternut squash with fresh sage was divine. The lasagna would be perfect as is at this point, but I decided to add in some chopped bacon pieces into the kale mixture as well; cooked, cubed pancetta would also work nicely.
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Butternut Squash, Kale & Bacon Lasagna
Ingredients:
- 1 box of whole wheat lasagna noodles
- Olive oil cooking spray
- 1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into rounds
- 1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon fresh sage leaves, chopped
- 1 head of kale, stems removed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
- 6 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped
- 1 ½ cups part-skim ricotta cheese
- 4 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into rounds
- ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish
Directions:
- In the meantime, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add in the noodles, a few at a time and cook for 10 minutes. Drain and arrange on waxed paper as the other batches of noodles cook.
- In a straight-sided sauce pan, heat 1 Tablespoon of oil, the garlic and crushed red pepper flakes over medium-high heat. Add in the chopped kale and sauté for 5-7 minutes, or until tender and wilted. Toss together with the cooked bacon pieces.
- To assemble the lasagna, spray a 9 x 13 baking sheet with cooking spray. Start with a layer of cooked noodles, then butternut squash-onion, topped with some of the kale-bacon mixture. Next, another layer of noodles followed by half of the ricotta cheese. Continue with this layering process until you finish the ingredients, ending with a layer of cooked noodles.
- Arrange the mozzarella rounds on top of the noodles and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with fresh parsley. Bake the lasagna in a 375 degree oven for 30-35 minutes. Cut into squares and serve warm.
Tagged: bacon, butternut squash, butternut squash and kale lasagna, fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh sage, kale, lasagna, pasta, ricotta cheese, roasted vegetables, whole wheat lasagna, whole wheat pasta
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