FoodMayhem

When I first made pumpkin lasagna last year, I was afraid it wouldn’t work out so I made a small portion in an 8×8 dish. It turned out to be one of my favorite fall recipes, one that I am always bragging about to…well Lon and Ice (my dog). I’m just so proud of it. When pumpkins started showing up in the farmer’s market, I knew I was going to make this dish again. I figured I would re-do the old pictures, that did not do this Pumpkin Lasagna any justice. Then I realized the greater problem (yes, worse then how bad I was at photography back then). The portion was too small! You’ll never have enough with a 8×8 pan, even if you live by yourself. I swear. You won’t know how it just disappeared. I settled on making it in a conventional 9×13 dish, because that’s a pan size normal people own, but I really wish it was made in a giant roasting pan. Yea, the ones you can put a whole pig in. I love it that much.

Don’t forget that you don’t have to boil lasagna pasta (even the regular kind, you don’t have to buy the “no-boil” pasta). It’s less work and even better because the pasta sheets stay al dente and feel like fresh pasta, almost. It creates better layers in your mouth, giving body and structure to the rest of the ingredients, that just melt away. (updated 10/21/21: I’m a little torn about this. Years ago, a reader told me that you didn’t need to boil regular lasagna sheets. I tried it and it worked great! I learned something new. Over the years, I have tried it several more times and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. It probably depends on the moisture content of the cheese which can vary quite a bit in mozzarella. So you’ll have to judge whether you want to take the risk or not.)

The cheeses are so purely creamy, soft and gooey, while the pumpkin is lightly sweetened and spiced to give that comforting taste of fall. The layers of pasta, cheese, pumpkin, pasta, cheese, pumpkin, create that unique synergy only lasagna has, while being a totally different experience from the traditional Italian favorite.

Pumpkin Lasagna
~about 9 servings

• 1 pound 5 ounces (or 21 ounces) fresh mozzarella, divided
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut in a few pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 3/4 cups pumpkin puree (or butternut squash puree)
• 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup (preferably grade B)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• pinch white pepper
• 1 (1 lb) box lasagna sheets

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Shred 12 ounces of mozzarella and mix with the ricotta in a large bowl. Set aside.

3. In a 2 quart pot, melt butter on low heat. Add garlic and brown lightly. Stir in pumpkin, brown sugar, maple syrup,  cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Stir until it’s all warm. Remove from heat and set aside.

4. Smear a thin layer of pumpkin mixture on the bottom of a 9×13 glass baking dish.

5. Place 3 lasagna sheets across. Smooth a layer of ricotta/mozzarella on. Smooth a layer of pumpkin mixture on top. Repeat until you have 5 layers of pasta, cheese, pumpkin. (You will use 15 lasagna sheets in total so there may be extra sheets in the box.)

*Tip: If you’re not good at eye-balling how much to put in each layer, divide the pumpkin mixture and cheese mixture, each into fifths before you start.

6.Slice the remaining 9 ounces of mozzarella. Arrange in one layer on top.

7. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 5 minutes. Let it rest for 5 minutes before serving.

*Keeps well in the refrigerator and can be reheated in the oven or microwave.

posted by jessica at 12:23 PM Filed under Inventive, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.