My husband found this recipe on the BBC Good Food website. It was tasty served with a green salad on the side.
Serves 6
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
Ingredients
1 squash, weighing about 1kg, chopped into chunks
2 tbsp olive oil
200 ml tub crème fraiche
50 g finely grated parmesan cheese
250 g tub ricotta cheese
small bunch sage leaves, half chopped, half whole
12 sheets fresh lasagne
Method
Heat the oven to 220°C/Gas mark 7. Toss the squash together with the olive oil in a roasting tin. Roast the squash for 30 minutes until soft and golden. While the squash is roasting, mix the crème fraiche with half the parmesan, then set aside.
When the squash is ready, leave to cool slightly, then peel the skin away from the flesh. In a separate bowl beat the ricotta with the chopped sage and the remaining parmesan and fold through the squash with some seasoning, trying not to break it up too much.
Assemble the bake by spreading a little of the crème fraiche mix over a gratin dish. Then lay some of the lasagne sheets over and splodge some of the ricotta and squash mix over the pasta with more crème fraiche. Use all the ricotta mix to fill the bake, but make sure you keep some crème fraiche for the top.
Finally spread the crème fraiche over the top layer of lasagne, then scatter with the whole sage leaves. Bake for 25 minutes until bubbling and golden, then serve cut into squares.
This autumnal twist on a traditional Italian favourite comes from Barney Desmazery, food editor of BBC Good Food. He uses butternut squash but I substituted the grey-green Crown Prince variety from Camel CSA’s weekly veg box. And still had plenty left over to make a big batch of spiced squash soup.
Serves: 4
Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
1kg squash , peeled and cut into bite-size chunks
3 tbsp olive oil
bunch sage , leaves picked, half roughly chopped, half left whole
1½ l vegetable stock
50g butter
1 onion , finely chopped
300g risotto rice
1 small glass white wine
50g parmesan, finely grated
Method
Before you make the risotto, heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Toss the squash in 1 tbsp oil together with the chopped sage. Scatter into a shallow roasting tin and roast for 30 mins until it is brown and soft.
While the squash is roasting, prepare the risotto. Bring the stock to the boil and keep on a low simmer.In a separate pan, melt half the butter over a medium heat. Stir in the onions and sweat gently for 8-10 mins until soft but not coloured, stirring occasionally. Stir the rice into the onions until completely coated in the butter, then stir continuously until the rice is shiny and the edges of the grain start to look transparent.
Pour in the wine and simmer until totally evaporated. Add the stock, a ladleful at a time and stirring the rice over a low heat for 25-30 mins, until the rice is cooked al dente (with a slightly firm, starchy bite in the middle). The risotto should be creamy and slightly soupy. When you draw a wooden spoon through it, there should be a wake that holds for a few moments but not longer.
At the same time, gently fry the whole sage leaves in a little olive oil until crisp, then set aside on kitchen paper. When the squash is cooked, mash half of it to a rough purée and leave half whole. When the risotto is just done, stir though the purée, then add the cheese and butter and leave to rest for a few mins. Serve the risotto scattered with the whole chunks of squash and the crisp sage leaves.
