Call Me Mrs. Rapp: Roasted Butternut Squash & Sweet Potato Lasagna

Monday, November 7, 2011

Roasted Butternut Squash & Sweet Potato Lasagna

...with whole wheat whole grain noodles, caramelized onion, sage, spinach and brown butter marscapone cheese... all I can say is WOW.

I saw this awhile back on the always amazing How Sweet It Is blog. And as all her posts do, this looked fantastic. I bookmarked it via Pinterest to make on a Sunday - figured it was one of those time-intensive dishes (note, it is) that would be sooo worth it (note, it was).

I also saw that my friend Jourdan made this dish but changed it up a bit. Her creativity inspired me to switch this up, too! I decided to add some caramelized onion (which Jourdan did) and a little spinach, which I was inspired to do while flipping through an issue of Cooking Light magazine.

Our apartment smelled amazing the entire time this was cooking. Starting with the roasting of the butternut squash and sweet potato (and I thought I hated sweet potatoes), to the cooking of the finished product. It was warm, creamy and an absolutely perfect fall dish. John's only complaint? I made it in an 8x8 dish. He told me I'm no longer allowed to make this in such a small dish because it is that good. He actually used the word "mouthgasmic." Think about that and tell me you won't make this. Ahhh. :)

Roasted Butternut Squash & Sweet Potato Lasagna
Recipe adapted from How Sweet It Is & Jourdan Leigh
Yields 1 lasagna
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Ingredients:
*9-12 whole wheat lasagna noodles
*1/2 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed (about 2 cups cubed)
*2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (about 1 1/2 cups cubed)
*12 ounces mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
*3 tablespoons unsalted butter (honestly I thought this was a bit much...I would cut it down to 1 or 2 tbsps.)
*1 shallot, thinly sliced
*3 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
*1 1/2 cups freshly grated parmesan cheese
*1/2 cup freshly grated mozzarella cheese
*1 teaspoon salt
*1 teaspoon pepper
*1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
*a bunch of sage leaves
*olive oil for drizzling
*large yellow onion, plus 1 tbsp. butter and 1 tbsp. brown sugar (heated over skillet until browned and softened)
*1-2 cups cooked spinach

Preparation:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For squash & potatoes:
*Lay cubed squash and potatoes on a baking sheet, and drizzle with a bit of olive oil (only about 1-2 teaspoons). Use your hands to coat the squash and potatoes with olive oil, then sprinkle with nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.

*Roast for 50 minutes, tossing every 15 minutes or so. Remove from oven and let cool.

*Once cool, mash with a potato masher or fork.

For mascarpone filling:
*Heat a skillet over medium heat and add butter. Add in shallots and garlic, and whisk every 30 seconds or so for 2-3 minutes. The butter should brown and the shallots and garlic should be fragrant. You don’t want the butter to burn – if it seems too hot, reduce the heat.

*Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.

*In a bowl, combine mascarpone, 3/4 cup parmesan cheese, remaining salt and pepper, and the shallots, butter and garlic. Mix until somewhat smooth and spreadable.

Layer lasagna:
*Spray an 8×8 pan with non-stick spray, then lay 2-4 (depending on size/brand) noodles down. Spread half of the squash mixture evenly over top, followed by caramelized onions and spinach, then spread/crumble half of the mascarpone on top of that.

*Sprinkle half of the mozzarella and remaining parmesan on next, then repeat with one more set of noodles, squash, mascarpone, and cheese.

*Top the dish over with a bunch of sage leaves that will crisp up in the oven.

*Bake for 45 minutes, or until cheese on top is golden and bubbly.