Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna

I love sweet potato, pumpkin, butternut squash.  The sweet tasty aftermath that is left in the mouth is scrumptious!  My family does not usually like it, so I still work hard on testing recipes to see if they will like it.

I came up thru this recipe while using Pinterest, and the mix of Spinach with the Butternut Squash got me drooling!  let alone Ricotta cheese in it, looked delicious!  and well fit for my meatless cooking day!  This also does well being a side dish since it is meatless and it is great for vegetarian people.

The recipe is a vegetarian lasagna that calls for creamy texture and sweetness added to it.  My family liked it so definitely it will be on my meatless meal list!  

Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna

Ingredients

Butternut Squash Filling:

- 2 cups butternut squash puree (see Instructions on how to do )

- 1 cup ricotta cheese

- 1/2 cup milk plus 2 tbsp

- 1/3 teaspoon of 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

- 1 and 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese (or more)

- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (Optional – I did not use)

- Paprika

Instructions

 - Preheat oven to 375 F / 190 C.

Butternut Squash Filling:

    - To do the butternut squat filling, you would need to cut in half one butternut squat, remove seeds, and close it up in aluminum foil.  Place in oven and bake for 30min or until it is soft.  Once cooked, spoon out the meat and blend it until pureed.  To complete the filling, blend 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.

Spinach Filling:

   - Combine spinach, Ricotta cheese, mozzarella, garlic, salt and pepper.

Cooking lasagna noodles:

   - Bring a very large pot of water to boil, and cook lasagna noodles according to package instructions. Rinse in cold water, drain.

Lasagna assembly:

   - Grease the lasagna dish lightly with butter. 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.

   - Spread half of spinach filling over the noodles. Top lightly with Mozzarella cheese. Top with cooked noodles.

   - Spread another layer (1/3) of butternut squash mixture, then sprinkle lightly with Mozzarella cheese. Top with cooked noodles.

   - Spread the remaining half of spinach filling over the noodles. Top lightly with Mozzarella cheese. Top with the final layer of cooked noodles.

   - 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 paprika if desired.

   - Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 30 min. Remove foil and bake additional 10 minutes.