Lasagna With Roasted Kabocha Squash and Béchamel

Lasagna With Roasted Kabocha Squash and Béchamel
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
2 hours
Rating
4(360)
Notes
Read community notes

This rich-tasting lasagna is inspired by my favorite northern Italian pumpkin-filled ravioli. It would make a terrific vegetarian item on a Thanksgiving buffet. Making the lasagna is not time-consuming if you use no-boil lasagna noodles. Be sure to season the squash well as you assemble this

Featured in: Winter Squash, Five Ways

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Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings
  • 3pounds kabocha squash
  • 3tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 3tablespoons minced shallot or onion
  • 3tablespoons sifted all-purpose flour
  • 3cups low-fat milk (1 percent)
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper
  • Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
  • 2tablespoons chopped fresh sage
  • ½pound no-boil lasagna noodles (or a little more, depending on the size of your lasagna pan)
  • 4ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (1 cup)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

341 calories; 12 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 46 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 10 grams sugars; 16 grams protein; 752 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil. Cut the squash into big chunks, brush the exposed flesh with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and place on the baking sheet. Bake 45 minutes or until squash is tender enough to be pierced through to the skin with a paring knife. Remove from the heat and allow to cool until you can handle it, then cut away the skin and cut in thin slices. Turn the oven down to 350 degrees

  2. Step 2

    While the squash is in the oven, make the béchamel. Heat the remaining oil over medium heat in a heavy medium saucepan. Add the shallot or onion and cook, stirring, until it has softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes, until the mixture is smooth and bubbling, but not browned. It should have the texture of wet sand. Whisk in the milk all at once and bring to a simmer, whisking all the while, until the mixture begins to thicken. Turn the heat to very low and simmer, stirring often with a whisk and scraping the bottom and edges of the pan with a rubber spatula, for 10 to 15 minutes, until the sauce is thick and has lost its raw flour taste. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Strain while hot into a large measuring cup or a medium bowl and stir in ¼ cup of the Parmesan and 1 tablespoon of the sage

  3. Step 3

    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Oil a rectangular baking dish. Spread a spoonful of béchamel over the bottom. Top with a layer of lasagna noodles. Spread a thin layer of the béchamel over the noodles. Top with half the squash. Season the squash with salt and pepper and sprinkle with Parmesan. Repeat the layers, ending with a layer of lasagna noodles topped with béchamel and Parmesan. Sprinkle the remaining sage over the top. Make sure the noodles are well coated with béchamel so they will soften during baking

  4. Step 4

    Cover the baking dish tightly with foil and place in the oven. Bake 40 minutes, until the noodles are tender and the mixture is bubbling. Uncover and, if you wish, bake another 5 to 10 minutes until the top begins to brown. Remove from the heat and allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving

Tip
  • Advance preparation: You can assemble this up to a day ahead and refrigerate, or freeze for a month. The lasagna can be baked several hours ahead and reheated in a medium oven.

Ratings

4 out of 5
360 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

I added a thin layer of ricotta/egg mixture over the bechamel and a scattering of Arugula -- came out great. Oh, also, a little cayenne in the Bechamel!

Delicious. It was not necessary to strain the bechamel sauce.

Great recipe! I sautéed two sausages along with a bunch of chopped kale and added this into each of the layers. It was a nice addition to both the texture and taste.

I found this a little bit dry. the addition of greens would help keep this moist. But i added a little water to the pan while cooking. There is a mushroom version that MRS does of this and that is spectacular.

Definitely not enough bechamel for a 13x9 dish. Next time I will probably double the bechamel just to be safe. Otherwise this is great!

I didn't have enough of the bechamel for the amount of noodles so I had to make more.

To make the dish lighter I used sautéed and pureed cauliflower to replace the bechamel: 1 onion, one head cauliflower, 3 carrots, chopped, sautéed & softened w olive oil and salt, nutmeg and black pepper, then braised for 15 min w 2 1/2 C chicken stock and blended thoroughly.

Delicious recipe, though I knocked off a star because the bechamel portion was definitely too low. I made more bechamel (5 cups of whole milk, 5 tbsp of flour, etc), and this seemed to be the right amount. Kabocha squash is very good, but you can use butternut squash for a similar, yet sweeter, result. I added cayenne to the sauce, layers of spinach, and a top layer of mozzarella. Will absolutely make again!

Made a vegan version- used a cashew cream bechamel & cheese-free "parm". Agreed that I would double it next time. Was a bit dry- also added some kale & mushrooms as suggested in one of the comments. Will be making this again for sure!

Tasty; subtle; helped by kabocha’s assertive flavor. Made 1.5x béchemel per others’ feedback, which worked out well. Also plussed up the cheese. Benefits from quite a lot of fresh pepper and fresh nutmeg.

This is brilliant. I'm on a diet and was pleased to see an alternative to the Béchamel. Turned out great with lots left over. Will make a wonderful thick soup.

Too dry and thick. Needs lots of vegetables to lighten up. Not a fan.

I made this with the kobocha squash and we all loved it. I did not peel the squash but cut it into bite sized pieces before roasting. I also used the oven ready lasagne noodles( no boiling) so other then cutting up the squash, the dish went together fairly easily,

This was delicious. We doubled the sauce and did not strain it as per some recommendations. We added spinach extra parm and some mozz. to the sauce. We served with apple sage vegetarian sausages which paired wonderfully. Next time I would use regular boiled noodles and put the sausage in the lasagna.

Followed the advice of others and increased the bechamel to 5 Tbs flour and 5 c milk, also increased the amount of shallots, might add garlic to the sauce next time around. Sauted 8 oz of mushrooms and added that to the squash layers. I like the idea of adding greens and will probably do that next time as well, and my wife suggested topping with toasted pine nuts.

Added black garlic to the bechamel, layers of spinach, and a briny cheese (used brynza, but feta would work just as well). Covered with a layer of smoked mozzarella and cheddar. Outstanding with the additions.

Made this according to recipe but increased bechamel sauce by 1 cup and used fresh pasta sheets. It was super bland, I would bump up all the spices etc. and note I did increase them to account for the increase in milk/bechamel but it was not enough

Delicious recipe, though I knocked off a star because the bechamel portion was definitely too low. I made more bechamel (5 cups of whole milk, 5 tbsp of flour, etc), and this seemed to be the right amount. Kabocha squash is very good, but you can use butternut squash for a similar, yet sweeter, result. I added cayenne to the sauce, layers of spinach, and a top layer of mozzarella. Will absolutely make again!

This came out great. Tastes a lot like a lasagna version of the classic butternut squash raviolli. However, I think the recipe needs much more parmesan than it called for. I used the 1/4 cup in the Bechamel as instructed but then used much more than the remaining 3/4 cup when assembling. Also, I couldn't find no boil noodles so used regular ones and cooked according to the instructions on the box. I don't think you could go wrong adding ricotta, vegetables, meat, or other cheese as you see fit.

Really dry. Needed twice as much béchamel. And a bit bland. The sage was strong but that was it.

We had puréed squash which worked very well. It took me forever to get the sauce to thicken, and I would agree with the suggestion to up the amount of sauce and cheese. I think that we might also increase the amount of sage in the sauce as it wasn’t as noticeable in bites from the lower half of the lasagna.

Added grated mozzarella because I had it in the house and definitely recommend.

This was delicious. I wanted more pumpkin ravioli vibes though. Maybe roasting the squash with a little maple syrup would help.

I combined this with the spinach lasagna recipe by adding water, onion, garlic, vinegar, and herbs to the squash until it resembled the consistency of tomato sauce and subbing it for the sauce in that recipe. Came out 100% amazing. Next time I might try mixing the squash in with pre-made tomato sauce, for a speed hack. Really hearty and tasty!

Tasty; subtle; helped by kabocha’s assertive flavor. Made 1.5x béchemel per others’ feedback, which worked out well. Also plussed up the cheese. Benefits from quite a lot of fresh pepper and fresh nutmeg.

There wasn’t enough liquid to cook the no-boil noodles. I even ran each noodle under the faucet and poured about a cup of water over the lasagna before putting the cheese on top. PLUS I cooked it for an extra 15 minutes. Tasted good but I would definitely just used boiled noodles next time to avoid crunchy lasagna (if I can get over the devastation of how it turned out the first time, that is). I think no-boil noodles are really for the sauce-heavy, ricotta laden, veggie-filled lasagna variety.

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