2010 Cooking Club Week 43: Butternut Squash and Portabello mushroom lasagna.

I apologise for the delay folks.


Butternut Squash and Portobello mushroom lasagne.

(Shameless commandeered from a favourite food blog)

• Large butternut Squash. Peeled and cut into 1/8” thick slices.
• 6 large Portobello mushroom , sliced 1/8" thick across the widest part.
• Extra virgin olive oil for sautéing
• 200g ricotta.
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Large bottle of passata.
• Zest from 1 lemon
• No boil Lasagne noodles.
• Salt, pepper to taste
• 200g. grated Gouda or Mozzarella.
• 60g vegetarian grated Pecorino or Parmesan if not for veggies.
• Optional: 2 Tbs of fresh Parsley, and 2Tbs fresh Basil or 4-6 fresh Sage leaves.


1: Heat Olive oil in a frying pan on high. Sautee the mushrooms and squash slices in batches. Until they are browned well on both sides. Set aside to rest on kitchen towel, salt. The aim at this point is to intensify the flavours by getting as much moisture as possible out of the veg.
Portobello mushrooms, can be difficult to source. Depending on where you live. I get them in my local farmers market, but Tesco are stocking them atm. I wouldn’t recommend subbing them because their textures adds greatly the meal.

2: Sautee the onion until they soft and translucent. Add the minced garlic and sauté for a further 30 seconds. Add the passata, lemon zest, herb(s) and salt and pepper. Simmer for a further 5 minutes. If using sage fry the fresh leaves until golden. Roughly 3 mins. Let cool and crush into the sauce at the end. This is my preferred tomato sauce recipe, but I’ve swapped for passata on this occasion for handiness.

3. Combine the ricotta, beaten eggs, and nutmeg in a bowl. I sometimes substitute cottage or farmers cheese for the ricotta. I sometimes add baby spinach to this combo.

4: Build the lasagne. Feel free to improvise. I alternate the vegetables in the sauce, with a ricotta layer sprinkled with Gouda. Finish by topping off the last layer with sauce and the chesses. I would usually have 3-4 layers of pasta noodles.

5: Cover the dish with foil. Bake at 190 degrees for 30 minutes. Bake for a further 10 minutes. Check that the sauce is bubbling and the noodles are soft before removing from the oven. Ideally you would rest the lasagne overnight to allow the flavours to develop. If you can’t, wait at least 30 minutes before eating.

I'm not sure that pictures are necessary...But if anyone thinks otherwise. Let me know, and I'll rustle up a few later in the week.

AnnyHallsal

That sounds gorgeous. I must try.

Little Alex

That sounds lovely. Can you use pumpkin instead of butternut squash or are they too dissimilar?

Little Alex

Little Alex wrote: »

That sounds lovely. Can you use pumpkin instead of butternut squash or are they too dissimilar?

You could. The original recipe used courgette instead of Butternut squash.
I made it recently using pumpkin, but I found it a bit bland. That may have been down to the variety of pumpkin. Apparently the smaller ones are better for cooking.

Alibear

That sounds divine; thank you for sharing!

I'm a bit of a butternut squash addict, so shall certainly be attempting to make it!

Little Alex

I made this last night and just had some now. I actually went ahead with the butternut squash because I had never tried it before. I really liked it! Adding the egg to the ricotta is an unusual touch, but it does help it hold together neatly.

Here is what it turned out like:



Thank you, Moonbaby. It was lovely!