I had this amazing butternut squash ravioli cooked in a sage butter sauce at a restaurant recently, and immediately, all I wanted to do was try out a butternut squash recipe at home. Plus, I really enjoy cooking and baking with seasonal fruits and veggies. I found this Martha Stewart recipe which was easy to halve and adapt to my own personal taste!

Butternut Squash and Mushroom Lasagna

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds of butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1/2 pound of ricotta cheese

1/4 cup of milk

1 large egg

1 cup of mozzarella cheese, grated or sliced into cubes or strips

1 tablespoon of unsalted butter

1 1/2 tablespoon of fresh sage leaves, coarsely chopped (more or less, to your taste)

1 cup of baby bella (crimini) mushrooms, sliced

1/2 cup of chicken or vegetable stock

fresh or cooked lasagna noodles (about 6 to 8 strips)

nutmeg (optional; I really couldn't taste any nutmeg in the final result)

coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup of finely grated Parmesan cheese (more or less, to your taste)

Recipe

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Toss the butternut squash, olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon of salt on a baking sheet. Season with pepper and bake until tender. The recipe says this will take 25 to 30 minutes, but it took me 45 to 60 minutes. Allow to cool.

Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and combine ricotta, milk, egg, mozzarella and a pinch of nutmeg in a medium bowl. Season with salt.

Melt butter in a small saute pan over medium to high heat. As soon as it starts to sizzle, add sage and cook until the leaves are light gold and slightly crisp at the edges, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add sliced mushrooms and cook until slightly browned.

Place squash in a medium bowl and mash 1/2 of it with the back of a wooden spoon, leaving the other half in whole pieces. Stir in the sage-butter-mushroom mixture and stock. Season with salt and pepper.

You should create your layers of lasagna to your liking ... the original recipe suggests you start with the cheese mixture, but I didn't want to worry about scraping bits of cheese off the bottom of my casserole dish, so I started with a layer of noodle. Regardless, alternate between a layer of noodle, a layer of the cheese mixture, a layer of noodle and a layer of the butternut mixture. When you are done, sprinkle the top with grated Parmesan cheese.

Place your dish into the oven and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, until the cheese is golden and bubbling. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 15 minutes before serving.

This recipe was really delicious, but I found that it tasted best fresh out of the oven. If you end up having leftovers, fry up a fresh batch of sage leaves each time you serve this and add it to the top of the dish. Similarly, remember to grate some extra Parmesan each time you serve this! It is a fantastic meatless recipe ... so, so delicious.