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
Method: For the filling: Peel the squash with a veggie peeler and cube into 1 inch pieces. In a large bowl, coat with oil first. Season with heavy amounts of black pepper and salt. Eyeball 1 T of ground fennel seed and cinnamon, and 1 t nutmeg. Toss evenly on the squash, coat heavily with more oil it the cubes seem to dry. Pour onto a baking sheet or roasting pan and cook aprox 45 minutes or until fork tender, stirring 2-3 times to distribute juices, in a 425 degree oven. Either mash the squash, or use a food processor. * Add the cheeses, add the eggs. For the noodles: Boil noodles for only 3-4 minutes, remove while they are still firm and coat with oil. Make sure they don’t stick while you wait for everything else to be ready. For the sauce: Melt butter in saucepan, add onions, cook until slightly caramelized. Add flour, cook 3-5 minutes until the flour smell is gone. Add milk, stir to remove lumps. Add parm cheese and remove from heat when it becomes thick. Assembly: Start with a layer of sauce on the bottom of the pan, then :noodles, sauce, filling, noodles, sauce, filling, etc,etc. Finish with noodles with a nice amount of sauce on the top- if you wish add more parm cheese.
Serves: 6-8. If my dish had 90 degree angles, I suspect it would be 8 X 12.
*I used the food processor and made some smooth, and left some in larger forked chunks. I def. recommend leaving some chunks
This is the approach my brother takes and works well if your kitchen is equipped with a gas stove. Turn the burner on medium heat and place the pepper directly on the grate above the flames. Rotate with tongs until all sides of the pepper are equally charred, then place in a bowl and cover for anywhere from 10-20 minutes. By that time the peppers should be cool enough to handle- the skin should peel off easy. Its alright if some of the black bits stay on, it just adds more yummy flavor. De-seed and slice according to recipe.
Mo brought over a delicious green salad with a homemade balsamic and grainy mustard vinaigrette and before I knew it we had an impromptu dinner party on our hands!
Baked Shrimp Scampi with Lemon Orzo
