All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2014
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This recipe requires a few steps but all are pretty easy & the result is an impressive crowd pleaser. I roasted a couple of pumpkins myself but you could use canned pumpkin with little change in the result. The only real difference is that canned pumpkin doesn’t come with seeds & I am going to post a roasted pumpkin seed recipe next & they are SO FRIGGING YUMMY – you will definitely be missing out if you do not try them.
Roasted Pumpkin Lasagna with Red Chard and Fried Sage Bechamel (with Homemade Pumpkin Puree)
INGREDIENTS
1/2 – 1 lb lasagna noodles (I used about 10-12 noodles)
3 cups pumpkin puree (recipe for homemade is below)
16 oz ricotta cheese
1 bunch red chard (or rainbow or green chard or kale) – thick ribs cut out
1-2 TBS crushed red pepper (optional)
1+ cups grated Parmesan
1+ cups grated mozzarella
S&P
for the bechamel
4 cups milk (I used almond milk)
7 TBS butter
6 TBS flour
1 large bunch of fresh sage
Pinch of nutmeg
S&P
DIRECTIONS
Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
Cook the lasagna noodles for about half the time recommended for them to be al dente and – being sure to reserve the boiling water – scoop them out & run cold water over them in a colander. Maybe toss with a touch of olive oil to be sure they don’t get sticky.
Plunge the greens you are using into the hot water & let them sit 2-3 minutes. Drain & chop them & set aside.
Melt 1 TBS of the butter in a small saute pan & fry the sage leaves for about 1 minute of med-high heat. Do not brown it. Drain the sage on a paper towel & set aside.
Melt the remaining 6 TBS butter in the same pan in which you fried the sage (to take advantage of all the lovely sage flavor) & then transfer it into a stock pot large enough to hold 5 cups of milk.
Set the heat at med-low & whisk in the flour. Keep whisking until the mixture smells nutty & takes on the color of light sand – about 6-7 minutes.
Meanwhile – in another pot – warm the milk but do not boil it. Add the milk to the flour & butter roux – one cup at a time – and whisk until smooth & thick. Reserve a few sage leaves for garnish & then crumble the rest into the bechamel. Bring to a boil – whisking the entire time. In 5-10 minutes – remove from heat, add some S&P and the nutmeg & set aside.
To make assembly easier – I blended the ricotta & pumpkin puree in my food processor. This isn’t necessary but ricotta tends to be thick & hard to spread so blending it with the puree makes spreading easier & assures an even distribution.
Treat a small lasagna pan with cooking spray & assemble the lasagna. Put 1/4 of the sage bechamel in the bottom of the pan & top with a layer of noodles. Layer 1/2 of the ricotta & pumpkin & top with 1/2 of the greens & a sprinkling of crushed red pepper. Add another 1/4 of the bechamel & another layer of noodles. Top this with the other 1/2 of the pumpkin/ricotta and the other 1/2 of the greens. Add more crushed red pepper – if you like – and maybe some S&P. Add another 1/4 of the bechamel & another layer of noodles. Top with the rest of the bechamel & spread the Parmesan & mozzarella on top. Garnish with a few sage leaves.
Bake for about 30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling & beginning to brown. Let the lasagna rest about ten minutes & then start hacking into it & shoving it into your pie hole. Mmmmmm! Autumn!
Oh! And in the interest of full disclosure – the pictures I used here of the lasagna on a plate is really TWO pieces of lasagna stacked on top of each other. You can do this when you serve it – if the deeper lasagna appeals to you visually.
Homemade Roasted Pumpkin Puree
INGREDIENTS
Fresh pumpkin (I used two small pie pumpkins & got about 4 cups of puree from them)
Water
S&P
DIRECTIONS
Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
Cut the tops off & then pumpkins in half (or quarter them, if your pumpkin is large), seed them (keeping the seeds for roasting! I will post a recipe for that next) & roast for about 40-50 minutes or until the skin is soft & the meat is fork tender.
Let them cool a bit & then scoop out the meat & puree in a food processor or blender. I added about 1 cup of water to mine to thin it enough to blend. Add a bit of S&P.
This puree is REALLY good for dogs & can be a miracle cure for doggy diarrhea if you add some to their food. Just FYI.
Delightful-Delicious-Delovely 