Butternut Squash + Spinach Ricotta Lasagne

Its mid week and I am in need of a major pick me up or something to get excited about, and this latest recipe including three types of cheese, butternut squash and spinach is the perfect thing. I am so happy I found this recipe from the site, Julia's Album, and even more excited that it turned out this great! This recipe is vegetarian and the perfect thing for these upcoming cold winter days. It is creamy, decadent and flavorful. 

I typically don't eat much dairy, but lately I have been dreaming of everything with butternut squash and because I have been so busy with my last semester of graduate school, this recipe was the perfect choice, because it is actually quite easy to create and makes for the perfect leftover. The reason why this particular lasagna is easy to make, is that it uses already premade pureed butternut squash. Therefore, no need to worry about cutting, scraping and baking the butternut squash in the oven, just mix it together with the required amount of ricotta cheese and you're set! 

I do want to make a point, that when boiling your lasagna noodles, make sure that you add some olive oil to the boiling water, to ensure that the noodles don't stick together. This can happen very easily and typically the noodles will tear into small pieces, which you don't want for a lasagna dish! 

Secondly, I altered this recipe just slightly with the spinach, and instead of leaving the spinach leaves whole, I pureed the sautéed spinach leaves together with the ricotta to combine them together. This made a huge difference and really brought all of the flavors together well. 

This recipe is one you will want to try and when you do, make sure to tag me on Instagram or leave a comment below!! 

Ingredients: 

Butternut Squash Filling: 

• 2 cups butternut squash puree (about half of squash)
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup milk (or more, if needed)
• 1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Spinach Filling: 

• 1 cup cooked spinach (8 oz uncooked)
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• pepper, to taste

Other Ingredients: 

• 10 oz lasagna noodles, cooked (for gluten free, use Tinkyada brown rice lasagna noodles)
• 1 and 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese (or more)
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (on top)
• Italian seasoning
• Paprika
• Basil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. For this filling, you will need to have pre-cooked butternut squash puree. Using food processor, combine 2 cups of butternut squash puree with Ricotta cheese, milk, salt and nutmeg. Add more milk if needed (to make the butternut squash filling very creamy). Mix very well, taste and add more salt, if needed.
3. Sauté the spinach leaves until wilted. Combine spinach, Ricotta cheese, mozzarella, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix, taste, and add more salt and pepper, if needed. (I pureed all of these ingredients together in a food processor). 
4. Bring a very large pot of water to boil, and cook lasagna noodles according to package instructions. Add 1 Tbsp of olive oil to the water. Rinse in cold water, drain. Using knife, trim noodles to fit your baking dish (if necessary). 
5. Prepare a baking dish - I used a casserole dish 11 inches x 8.5 inches x 3 inches deep. Grease the lasagna dish lightly with olive oil spray. Spread 1/3 of butternut squash filling on the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle lightly with mozzarella cheese. Top with cooked lasagna noodles without overlapping (I used 3 noodles).
6. Spread half of spinach filling over the noodles. Top lightly with Mozzarella cheese. Top with cooked noodles.
7. Spread another layer (1/3) of butternut squash mixture, then sprinkle lightly with Mozzarella cheese. Top with cooked noodles.
8. Spread the remaining half of spinach filling over the noodles. Top lightly with Mozzarella cheese. Top with the final layer of cooked noodles.
9. Spread a generous amount of butternut squash filling (the remaining 1/3) over this final layer of noodles, sprinkle with grated Parmesan and remaining mozzarella cheese (about 1/2 cup of mozzarella). Generously sprinkle the cheese with Italian seasoning, paprika, basil. 
10. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 30 min. Remove foil and bake additional 10 minutes.