Butternut Squash and Pesto Lasagna

Is there anything more comforting than warm pasta? Didn't think so. Last week I had bought a butternut squash and I didn't really know what I wanted to do with it. I'd had a piece of leftover butternut squash and pesto lasagna at a friends house and it was so yummy but needed a little acidity to break it up, so I added the sliced tomato to the top. I found the most beautiful dark red heirloom! Pesto and butternut squash both have such rich flavors, so don't worry about this not being enough as a meal- it is. Even though this post is kind of long and the actual recipe seems a little intimidating, I promise it's not. It's a lot of steps but it's not hard and it's so worth. it. Ok, I sound like Ina Garten now...

Layers and layers of flavor.

When I talk about sliced mozzarella, I just mean the mozzarella that's in a round block. Cut the 8 slices before you grate the cheese, it's easier to grip when there's more. Also, I didn't put a slice on each tomato because that just occurred to me as I wrote this, but it would be pretty! If your slices don't come out nice, just casually throw them on there like I did. It still looks good! The sight of bubbling cheese is always easy on the eyes.

While the noodles are still dry, lay them out in your pan to see how many you'll actually need. Chances are you wont need the whole package, but cook 2 or 3 extra just in case one of them breaks or rips in the water. It's fine to put some horizontally and some vertically because in the end they're all going to get covered and you wont even see them anyway. If you have a vegetarian coming over for dinner in the future, try this out, it's so easy, it just requires a bit of assembly. Serve it with some warmed Italian bread and a salad. Enjoy!

Mozzarella!

Ingredients

1 box lasagna noodles

2lb butternut squash (relatively small, makes a lot)

1 egg

¼ cup + 2/3 cup olive oil

1 bunch basil leaves (about 2 cups lightly packed)

¼ cup roasted unsalted cashews

¼ cup parmesan shredded parmesan cheese

3 tbsp lemon juice

2 cloves garlic

1 large or 2 medium tomatoes (beefsteak or heirloom would be best)

¾ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

8 slices mozzarella cheese

Steps

Preheat Oven to 375.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil

To Make Butternut Squash

1.      1. Carefully skin the squash and scoop out the seeds. Cut into 1 inch chunks. Place cubes in 13 x 9 inch baking pan and toss with ¼ cup olive oil and salt and pepper. You could add some minced garlic as well if you want. Cover with foil and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.

2.      2. Allow to cool slightly. Transfer squash to a medium sized bowl and mash with a fork. Add egg and stir until well combined. Mixture should be slightly chunky…you don’t want it to be like baby food.

To Make Pesto

1.      1. Wash and dry basil leaves and tear them up a bit to help blender. Place torn basil leaves, cheese, lemon juice, cashews, and garlic in a blender. Pulse to break up mixture. Remove the inner circle from the blender top and slowly pour in the 2/3 cup olive oil while the blender is on. Blend until smooth. If the pesto looks too thin add more basil.

Assembly + Cooking

1.      1. When water comes to a rolling boil, carefully submerge noodles into water. Don’t break them! They should take about 10 minutes to cook. The easiest way is to pull one out and poke it with a fork. You want them to be al dente because they will cook more in the oven.

2.      2. Carefully pull each noodle out of the water and hang over the side of a bowl or colander.

3.       While the noodles are cooking, wash, dry, and slice the tomato. You want 8 horizontal slices, all about the same size. They don’t need to be thick.

4.      3. Use the same pan you roasted the squash in, it is already oiled from the squash.

5.      4. Place a single layer of noodles on bottom of pan, its fine if they overlap a little. Cover noodles with squash mixture and smooth with a spoon. Sprinkle half of the shredded mozzarella over squash.

6.      5.  Place another layer of noodles over squash. Cover noodles with a good amount of pesto, but probably not all of it.  Sprinkle remaining shredded cheese over pesto.

7.     6.  Arrange tomato slices over shredded cheese, then place a slice of mozzarella over each tomato slice.

8.      7. Cover pan with foil and bake in 375 degree oven for 20 Minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until cheese on top is beginning to brown and bubble. (30-35 minutes total).