Butternut Squash Lasagna with Sausage and Taleggio

Source

Ingredients

1 medium Butternut squash, 2lbs untrimmed / 1.5lbs trimmed
4 sage leaves (additional for garnish)
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1.5 lbs Italian sausages, skins removed
7-8 oz Taleggio cheese, rind removed
⅓ cup water

Aprox 9 sheets dried or fresh lasagna noodles (enough for two layers of pasta in a 9/13 inch pan)

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup flour
4 cups whole milk
1 pinch fresh grated nutmeg
1 cup finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano, plus extra for grating
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

Method

Cook the squash

Trim the butternut squash and chop it into small-medium sized cubes, set aside. Finely chop the fresh rosemary and sage.

Heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan.   Add the cubed butternut squash, chopped herbs and a good pinch of salt. Saute for 5 minutes then add ⅓ cup of water (80ml) then cover with a lid. Turn the heat down low and cook for 20 minutes until fork tender (give it a stir half way through cook to make sure it doesn’t stick). Once cooked, turn off the heat and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat another pan on a medium heat. Brown the sausage meat, breaking it up with the side of a wooden spoon into small-medium sized crumbs. Once cooked, turn the heat off and set aside.

To make the bechamel

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Once melted, add the flour and whisk to form a thick paste. Let it cook while whisking for 1-2 minutes.

Add half of the milk and whisk until there are no lumps. Keeping it on a medium heat, stir the bechamel until thickened then gradually add the rest of the milk.

Add a good pinch of salt, pepper and nutmeg and whisk every now and then until thickened. Turn the heat up if needed but make sure it doesn’t catch on the bottom.

Once thickened stir in the Parmigiano Reggiano then turn off the heat and set aside.

Add the butternut squash to a food processor and blitz into a puree. Add a few spoons of bechamel and blitz again until super smooth.

Transfer the squash puree to the bechamel and whisk until combined.

Blanch the pasta

Bring a large pot of water to boil and salt it well.  Partially cook pasta (30 seconds for fresh pasta, about 1/2 recommended cook time for dried).

Assemble

Spread some butternut squash sauce on the bottom of a 9 X 13 inch baking dish. Top with a layer of pasta then spread more sauce over the top. Sprinkle with some sausage, dot over Taleggio cheese then a small grating of Parmigiano Reggiano.

Repeat with the layers until everything is used up. You should get 5 layers in total (3 layers of sauce and cheese, divided by two layers of pasta). The final layer has everything on top (sauce, sausage, taleggio and parmigiano).

Pre-heat the oven to 400F. Bake the lasagna uncovered for 40-45 minutes, remove and let it rest for at least 5 minutes before cutting and serving.