Fall is rapidly approaching- although I only know this from the arrival of squash to the dinner table. The weather is hot, the sky is blue, and there are still leaves on the trees. In order to fulfill my New England needs, I bought myself some butternut squash.

It all started with an email and a recipe c/o my mom.  She wrote:

Try this recipe-
1 butternut squash shredded
dried cranberries
walnuts
Cover with dressing made from small goat cheese log, apple cider vinegar, juice one lemon, olive oil
salt, pepper
yum!

I would never think to shred butternut sqaush- ingenious!

Then, my friend Sarah came over and said that her market sells a butternut squash lasagna. I had never heard of such glory. The stars had aligned- Two instances of new forms of squash- shredded and in a savory treat- made me immediately hunt down the seasons early harvest. My mind started spinning in circles thinking of all the ways I could combine these two brilliant ideas. Add the walnuts in the lasagna? What about pine nute- or even cranberries? I bought two medium-large sized squash from the Castro Farmer’s market. A more expensive market than others, but I like it because of the specialty items that converge- olives, bread, Bolani, and suprisingly some of the cheapest places to buy flowers($3 a bunch!) that I have ever found.

In the end I would up making lasagna minus anything special b/c of my lack of walnuts or any of the other special ingredients – but I will certainly be making more exotic variations as well as the salad sometime soon!  I adapted a few recipes I found to fit my needs- namely this mixed with this and my own interpretations, inexact measurements, and oval-shaped casserole dishes .

Butternut Squash Lasagna

18-ish lasagna noodles
1.5 c ricotta
2 eggs
1/2 log of goat cheese
5 lbs Butternut squash- cubed in 1″ pieces
cinnimon
nutmeg
fennel seed-ground
Salt & Pepper
Olive Oil or Grapeseed Oil or both
2 cups milk
2 T butter
2 T flour
1 Cup Parmesan
3 T diced onion