Butternut Squash Lasagna (No Noodles!)

Well, it might take a bit of time, but this is worth absolutely worth it. And I say that as a mother of two little ones. I can't whip this up any old night, but I've made it twice now and we couldn't devour it fast enough. Even my two-year-old deemed it "yummy in my tummy!" even if after saying so she was distracted by other food.

This is theoretically a lasagna in that it's built in layers, but little else will resemble the favorite pasta dish. There's no pasta here - instead, the butternut squash is cut into thin strips to duplicate the idea of noodles. There's no tomato sauce - you'll find garlic scape pesto instead that matches the flavor profile of the squash. And, instead of ricotta, it will be a lighter asiago mixed with tantalizingly-flavorful red onions and spinach. That's right - we have packed vegetables into every last nook and cranny but when you eat it, it'll simply be rich and velvety, leaving you craving more of this very healthy meal.

Time: 1 hr 30 (30 min active time, then baking)



Butternut Squash Lasagna (No Noodles!)

Ingredients:
1 large butternut squash (only the neck - can use the bulb for something else)
2 tsp olive oil
1 large red onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
10 oz baby spinach
1/2 c garlic scape pesto (or another pesto if that's not available)
5 oz shredded Asiago

To make this recipe work best, select a large butternut squash with a long neck. Peel the butternut squash and slice off the bulb and stem. Save the bulb for another purpose. Take the neck and set a mandolin to 1/8". Carefully slice until you use up all of the bulb. The second time I did this, I had enough slices to fill a 13x9 glass baking dish (the first time I had to use a 9x9 as you see in the photo, but these amounts are geared towards a larger lasagna like the second time) with 4 layers of squash.

Place the squash slices in a microwaveable dish, cover with a lid, and microwave for 6 minutes. They should be reasonably tender at that point.

Get your oven pre-heating to 350.

As the squash is microwaving, slice up your red onion and mince the garlic. Get a pan heating over medium-high heat and add the olive oil, swirling to coat. Saute the onion for 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and saute another 1-2 minutes. The onion should be browning by now. Add the spinach and saute just until it's wilted, stirring often. Set aside.

When all of your components are ready, begin assembling your lasagna. Coat a 13x9 glass baking dish with cooking spray. Place down a layer of butternut squash slices, top with 2 tbsp of garlic scape pesto, 1/4 of your onion-spinach mixture, and 1/4 of the cheese. Repeat until you have four layers. Fit in any remaining butternut squash around edges or as overlapping slices.

Cover with foil and bake for 50 minutes. Remove the foil and broil for 2 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes and then enjoy!