Super Squash Lasagna

I begged for Jamie Oliver's new Everyday Superfood cookbook for Christmas. The photographs are gorgeous (of course) and I was really intrigued by a lot of the recipes. I confess that I haven't had complete faith in his recipes ever since following his pancake recipe way back in 2007 and being profoundly disappointed with the way-too-eggy results. However, I felt like if at least half of these recipes tasted as good as his photographers made them look, the cookbook would be a keeper. Happily, this squash lasagna is quite good. In fairness, it's not going to replace a rich cheese-y, meat-y lasagna for me, but for a healthy vegetable lasagna, I did not feel deprived in the least.

Jamie's squash lasagna is actually the second thing I've made from his new cookbook. The first thing I made was an Indian roasted cauliflower, pineapple, and chickpea dish that didn't turn out at all as expected based on the photo. In fact, I was so disappointed with the mushy cauliflower and rock-hard pineapples & chickpeas, I heaped it all into a tupperware, stuck it in the freezer, and forgot about it for a couple weeks. Imagine my delight when I reheated it at work one day and it was actually good! Apparently it's a dish that improves with age... or microwaving. Anyways, that convinced me to give Jamie another chance and I went with squash lasagna because I love pretty much all pasta - especially when it involves red sauce and some form of cheese. I quite liked this super squash lasagna, which I suppose puts Everyday Superfood at a partial success with 1(.5) : 2 recipes enjoyed.

I really liked the simple tomato sauce with balsamic vinegar in it. My dad's probably been adding it for years, but somehow I never realized how much complexity it would add to my pasta sauce. I'm definitely carrying the concept over to other tomato sauces I make. Instead of a fresh chili, I used about ½-1 teaspoon of chili flakes because I always forget about fresh chilies until they're over the hill and lost in my crisper drawer.

I was apprehensive about putting the cottage cheese-milk mix straight onto the lasagna sheets without any sauce buffer to prevent the noodles from drying out in the oven. Surprisingly, the moisture from the dairy was enough and my noodles all turned out great. Not even a single corner burned. With that said, the next time I made this (and there will be a next time), I made 1.5x the tomato sauce so there was enough to add some between the noodles and cottage cheese, since I like a lot of sauce with my pasta and this sauce is super delicious. I've updated the recipe to reflect these new amounts.

Every time I've made this recipe, I've run out of squash about halfway through making my layers, but in neither case was I starting from a 3-lb squash, so I only have myself to blame. You should look for two 1.5-lb butternut squash in order to have enough (one giant butternut squash is likely to be less flavorful and more difficult to prepare). I wasn't trusting enough to leave the peel on my squash, which was the most time-consuming part of making this whole dish. Feel free to make your own choice about leaving the skin on. Also, Jamie talked about arranging the spinach in a single layer, which I found to require too much meticulous prep work due to how clingy spinach leaves are, so I just evenly sprinkled ⅓ of my spinach across each layer. If you don't like spinach, you could easily substitute a different vegetable here, like riced broccoli or julienned kale.

In my oven in NJ, I needed an additional 15-20 min for the lasagna beyond the published cooking time of 45 minutes... although this likely was because my oven never exceeded 320 F towards the bottom. Even when I took the lasagna out, the sauce wasn't really bubbling up - I based my estimate of doneness on how golden brown the top was looking. Whole wheat lasagna noodles definitely have more chew to them than regular lasagna noodles, which is part of why it matters that you cook this a sufficient amount of time, so... know your oven. In my CA oven, I baked this for about 55 minutes.

Adapted from Everyday Superfood

Super Squash Lasagna

Although the cook time is long, the actual active time is quite low. If you have 2 hours to wait, this lasagna is tastes as good as it is healthy.

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Course: Vegetarian

Cuisine: American

Keyword: jaime oliver, everyday super food, vegetarian lasagna, healthy meals

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours hours

Total Time: 2 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 6

Calories: 333kcal

Ingredients

Roasted Butternut Squash

• 2 medium butternut squash about 3 lbs total
• 1.5 teaspoon coriander ground
• 2 hefty pinches kosher salt
• 6-8 grinds black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Tomato Sauce (1.5x the original amount)

• 6 cloves garlic
• 1-2 fresh red chilies or ½-1 teaspoon dried chili flakes
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 3 15-ounce cans plum tomatoes whole or pureed

Lasagna

• 14 ounces (1 ¾ cup) vegetable (or chicken) broth or water
• 7 ounces spinach
• 2 ounces Parmesan or other hard cheese
• 8 ounces dried whole-wheat lasagna sheets
• 14 ounces cottage cheese 2% fat, low-sodium if possible
• 6 tablespoons milk nonfat
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary rubbed with oil or ¼-1/2 teaspoon dried

Instructions

Squash

• Preheat the oven to 350 F and rub a large cookie sheet with a little olive oil.
• Peel*, halve, and seed the squash, then slice into ½-inch half moons.
• Arrange squash moons in a single layer on the pan, sprinkle with the ground coriander, kosher salt, and black pepper (to your taste - I used about 6 turns of the pepper grinder and 1 teaspoon salt).
• Roast for 50 minutes, until soft and golden.

Sauce

• While the squash roasts, peel the garlic and seed the fresh chili (if using), then finely mince both and put in a large pot over medium heat with about 1 tablespoon olive oil.
• Cook the garlic and chili for 3 minutes, until fragrant and turning golden.
• Add the canned tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, and water. If using canned whole tomatoes, break them up as you stir them in.
• Bring to a simmer over medium heat, continue simmering** 15-20 minutes until slightly thickened.
• Adjust seasoning according to preference and remove from heat while waiting for the squash to finish roasting.

Assembly

• Spread ⅓ of the tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
• Cover with a layer of the spinach leaves, followed by a layer of squash, ½ oz finely grated Parmesan, and a layer of lasagna sheets.
• Repeat process twice more, ending with a layer of lasagna sheets.
• In a small bowl, gently mash the cottage cheese with the milk to loosen the curds. Spoon the remaining amount of tomato sauce over the noodles, then spoon the cottage cheese-milk sauce over the top and gently spread it evenly to fully cover the noodles.
• Scatter the remaining Parmesan and fresh rosemary leaves (or dried rosemary) over the top.
• Bake at the bottom of your oven for 45-65 minutes, until golden on top and bubbling along the edges.
• Serve immediately, ideally with a lemon-dressed salad.

Notes

*Jaime Oliver recommends leaving the peel on, but I wasn't sure I would like that and I don't regret the choice. Between the whole wheat noodles and squash moons, this was plenty toothsome.
**Careful, if you are using a wide and not-very-deep pan like I was, this simmering sauce will spatter everywhere. Use a spatter guard or a taller pan than I did.

 

Serving size is 280 grams - one large piece.

Nutrition

Serving: 280grams | Calories: 333kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 582mg | Potassium: 760mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 12935IU | Vitamin C: 29.5mg | Calcium: 285mg | Iron: 3.3mg