Lasagne with Roasted Squash

By Nancy Caivano

Lasagne with Roasted Squash,
Roasted Garlic and Herb Cream Sauce

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:
Cooking spray
3-lb butternut squash, quartered, seeded,
   and peeled, cut into chunks
10 whole garlic cloves
3 tbsp olive oil
1 lb lasagne noodles
3/4 cup mascarpone cheese
   (if you can't find mascarpone, you
   can substitute cream cheese)
2 cups grated Pecorino Romano cheese, divided
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
2 tbsp rosemary, finely chopped
1 tbsp thyme, finely chopped
1 qt heavy cream
1-1/2 cups grated provolone cheese

Method:
Preheat oven to 450 degree F. Spray 2 large baking pans well with cooking spray.

In one baking pan, combine squash and garlic. Toss with 3 tbsp olive oil. Roast in oven until garlic is very soft and well browned, about 30—45 minutes. Remove from oven, season with salt and pepper, and cool slightly.

Cook lasagne in a large pot of boiling, salted water until only halfway done according to pkg. directions. Drain, and then toss with a little olive oil to prevent sticking.

Place squash and garlic in a food processor and pulse a few times. You don't want a purée, but you want it well mixed and in small pieces. Transfer to a large bowl. Mix in mascarpone and 1 cup grated Romano. Mix well and season with salt and pepper.

In a small saucepan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat. Add parsley, rosemary and thyme and sauté, stirring quickly for 1 minute, until herbs are very fragrant. Whisk in cream. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Cook 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat, whisk in remaining Romano cheese and set aside.

Reduce oven temp to 350 degrees F. Spread a thin layer of sauce into the other prepared pan. Place 1 layer of lasagne noodles, then 1/4 of filling, 1/4 of provolone, then 1/4 sauce. Make remaining layers in the same fashion. Top layer should be lasagne, sauce, and provolone.

Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake 15 minutes more, or until top is very golden and bubbly. Let sit 10 minutes before serving.

Note:
This does well cooked ahead and frozen. Do not bake; cover with both plastic wrap and foil. To bake, remove plastic and recover with foil. Cook, covered on a low temp (250 degrees F.) until a knife goes through easily, then cook as directed above.