Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna

This recipe is a MUST TRY for all those who love creamy cheese, pasta and butternut squash -- not sure who doesn't but I feel sorry for them. Now before I begin with the recipe, let me tell you that when I told Brian Sr. we were having lasagna for dinner he was thrilled, when I told him it would have no tomato sauce or meat but rather butternut squash and lasagna, his reaction was completely skeptic. He claims to not like butternut squash, sweet potatoes and the like, but one bite of this lasagna and he was singing my praises and remarked, "you're killing it in the kitchen, this is amazing".

SO here is what you NEED:

To roast the butternut squash: 

1 butternut squash

a few pads of butter

2 tablespoons of brown sugar

salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

For the béchamel sauce: 

4 tablespoons butter

4 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

3 cups milk

salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

1 tablespoon fresh snipped rosemary

1 teaspoon chili powder

for the layers:

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese

no-boil Lasagna Noodles

1 bag of frozen spinach, cooked

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Here is what you DO:

Preheat oven to 400.

Cut your squash in half lengthwise 

In the little dips of the squash, scoop out the seeds and put in a pad of butter and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar

Roast the squash in the oven for 40 minutes and in the middle of roasting, spread the melted butter and sugar to coat

In the meantime, prepare the sauce.

Heat 4 tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.

Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Whisk in flour.

Slowly add milk and season with salt and pepper.

Cook and stir frequently until thickened and bubbly, about 8 to 10 minutes

Remove squash from oven and reduce oven temperature to 375.

Scrape out the meat of the butternut squash and mash together in a bowl and add your rosemary

Mix together your béchamel sauce and butternut squash mash, taste that = WOW

Butter a 3-quart casserole dish.

Spoon 1/2-cup of the butternut squash béchamel on the bottom of prepared baking dish.

Layer three to four of the no-bake noodles on top of sauce.

Spread one-third of the remaining sauce on top of the noodles.

Sprinkle 1/3 of your cooked spinach

Sprinkle 1/3 of the Parmesan cheese AND mozzarella cheese

Repeat layering noodles, sauce, spinach and cheese two more times.

Pour whipping cream over entire dish.

Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese.

It will look like this: 

Cover dish with foil.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until bubbly.

Uncover and continue to bake for 10 more minutes, or until top is lightly browned.

Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Cut and serve.

It looks like a lot of instructions but it's really not that hard and you will LOVE this tasty fall dish :)