Butternut squash lasagna

This was a hit at a potluck last night. I typed it up for the recipe requesters, and present it here for your pleasure.

Note that this is a more time-consuming dish than my usual, but worth the effort when you feel like spending a couple of hours messing around in the kitchen. And, although it is by no means a light dish, it does not weigh on the stomach the way the usual ricotta-based lasagna does.

I got it from http://mikes-table.themulligans.org/2009/10/15/butternut-squash-and-sausage-lasagna/ and made some small changes.

I think it would also be good (although no longer very "Italian") with breakfast-type sausage and a different cheese combination.

Butternut Squash and Sausage Lasagna


1 lb. Barilla no-boil lasagna noodles

1 lb. sausage (1 ½ lb would be a better amount; I used Martin’s mild Italian turkey sausage)

1 bunch chard (a bag of spinach or box of chopped frozen spinach would work)

1 bag (8 oz) shredded mozzarella (or Italian blend – I used Four Cheese blend)

Shredded/grated Parmesan, Romano, or Asiago cheese for topping (I used straight-from-the-supermarket shredded Parmesan)

Squash sauce:

1 medium butternut squash (could have been two)
½ head garlic (I roasted the whole thing but used half)
olive oil
salt and pepper
1 leek (an onion could easily be substituted for the leek and shallot)
1 shallot
1 small red bell pepper
1 carrot
about ¼ cup white wine
3-4 cups chicken stock (I used 2 cans Swanson Natural Goodness broth)
2 tsp dried sage
½ tsp dried thyme
few dashes cayenne red pepper
Béchamel sauce:

2/3 stick of butter
2/3 cup flour
6 cups whole milk (warmed)
4 eggs (room temperature)
2/3 cup Parmesan, Romano, or Asiago cheese (I used same old Parmesan)
Salt and pepper to taste (I used a scant teaspoon of salt and about ¼ tsp pepper)
¼ - ½ tsp fresh grated nutmeg (or probably ¼ tsp ground nutmeg)

1) Cut squash in half and scrape out seeds and fibers. Rub with a little olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and place (cut side up) in a shallow baking pan. Cut a little of the top off the head of garlic, rub it with olive oil, and put it in same pan. Roast at 400F for about 45 minutes; remove garlic, then continue roasting about 15 minutes more until squash is very tender (test with fork).

2) When squash is done, dice shallot, leek, pepper, and carrot. Sauté in a little olive oil in a large pot until fairly soft. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and chicken broth. Add the garlic flesh, the roasted squash (minus its skin), the sage, thyme, and cayenne. Simmer the sauce for 15-30 minutes, then puree it (roughly) with an immersion blender.

3) At the same time (or before), sauté the sausage (in a little olive oil, if needed). Chop the chard (I included the stems) and add it to the sausage when it is mostly done; cook together until sausage is well done and chard is completely wilted down.

4) Melt the butter in a 3-qt saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour, and cook 3-5 minutes, stirring often. Whisk in the milk. Heat to a boil, stirring frequently. Cook until thickened. Remove from heat.
5) In another bowl, beat the eggs with the salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Very slowly, pour the eggs into the white sauce, whisking constantly. Whisk in the 2/3 cup Parmesan.

6) In a large pan, layer as follows (bottom to top):

About 1 cup squash sauce
4 lasagna noodles
1/3 remaining squash sauce (about 1 ½ cups)
1/3 sausage/chard mixture
2 cups béchamel
4 lasagna noodles
1/3 squash sauce
1/3 sausage/chard
2 cups béchamel
4 lasagna noodles
1/3 squash sauce
1/3 sausage/chard
2 cups béchamel
4 lasagna noodles
The rest of the bechamel (about 1 ½ cups)
Shredded Parmesan (a couple of handfuls)

7) Cover with foil and bake at 375F for 50 minutes, then uncover and bake 15-20 minutes more, until bubbly and beginning to brown. Let it sit for at least half an hour before serving.

Buffalo chicken pizza

I sometimes take my children to Ceci's pizza buffet. The food is pretty awful, but it's cheap and pleases the kids. Julia took a liking to their Buffalo chicken pizza, so I made my own version at home the other day.

Our supermarket sells fresh pizza dough. You can substitute Boboli or whatever you like for the base.

In this case, I prebaked the crust on a lightly oiled cookie sheet for 5 minutes at 475 degrees F. I topped it with Marie's light blue cheese dressing, probably about a cup. For the next layer, I melted 2 Tbsp butter and mixed in 1/4 cup hot sauce. This was not Tabasco, but rather from an aging bottle of Crystal hot sauce, which is less powerful...adjust to your own taste). To this, I added about a cup of leftover cooked chicken. A little more would have been better. I spread this over the blue cheese dressing, then topped the pie with mozzarella cheese and baked it for 15 more minutes.

I think some chopped celery might be nice on this, or maybe some very thinly sliced tomato, but daughter rejected these ideas. I put a little red onion on part of it before baking, which was good.

Next I need to figure out how to make a slightly healthier version of the Buffalo chicken cheesesteak from Hoagie Haven in Princeton.  If I use the Marie's light blue cheese dressing and those good Bell and Evans breaded chicken cutlets and make sure to get bread from Italian Peoples Bakery (that's what Hoagie Haven uses), I may achieve something that will please the daughter without putting too many excess pounds on her.

Salmon teriyaki

This one was a winner (i.e., my husband really liked it). I wanted to use up some more greens - baby bok choy this time - and thought salmon would go well alongside.

Sauce: 2 Tbsp mirin, 1 Tbsp sake, 1 Tbsp soy sauce (I had all these, but I think sherry + sugar + soy sauce would work fine, as would bottled teriyaki sauce)

You're really supposed to cook them together a bit, but I didn't bother. I removed the skin from some salmon fillet (about 1 1/2 lb.) then sliced it about an inch thick (not necessary, but I didn't take long marinating the fish, so wanted more sauce on it). I put it in the sauce for a few minutes, then quickly sauteed it in a nonstick pan with a drop of peanut oil. Then I put the fish on a plate, dumped the rest of the sauce in the pan, and cooked it down until it was a bit syrupy. I poured that over the fish. Quick and good.

The "correct" way to do it would have involved cooking the sauce down a bit to start, marinating the fish longer, and brushing the fish with sauce while it cooked.

The huge bag of baby bok choy cooked down to a reasonable amount as well. I sauteed two minced cloves of garlic in a bit of peanut oil (same pan as the fish but before I cooked the fish), then added the bok choy and a little chicken broth and soy sauce (probably 1/4 cup broth and a tablespoon of sauce). I covered the pan and let it cook down until the veggies were wilted and tender. Delicious.

Some rice to go with, and you have a very nice and easy meal.

Cooking lettuce

I am way behind. Pretty obvious, since I haven't posted here in over a month. Meanwhile, heaps of produce from the CSA farm we belong to have been piling up in the refrigerator and on the counter. I managed to handle most of the tomatoes by canning a few pints of salsa and cooking a lot of sauce tomatoes into puree (which reminds me that I had better use the puree that's in the fridge or my hard work will be for naught). However, the greens are another story.

I adore greens, despite (because of?) the fact that I didn't taste most of them until relatively late in adulthood. My mother, although the daughter of a produce man, has a relatively limited vegetable repertoire, and I don't recall her venturing past lettuce and spinach. I still remember my first taste of watercress, in a Fairfield, Connecticut restaurant, probably in the early '80s. It was what they call a revelation. (I had to ask the waitress what it was.)  Since then, I've learned to love all kinds of leafy stuff.

No one else in my family loves greens, however, and things have been too busy lately for me to prepare them for myself. Also, I've been out of the house most lunchtimes, volunteering for a big event at my children's school. With that over, I found the fridge overflowing with lettuce, arugula, chard, baby bok choy, collards, and Chinese cabbage (not to mention other non-leafy veggies). I decided to tackle the first two for lunch today.

I perused a couple of recipes for lettuce soup. Basically, if I recall correctly, they involve sauteeing onion and/or garlic, then adding broth and/or water, potato, lettuce, and seasoning of choice, then pureeing the lot. They finish with a little butter or cream.

My concoction was similar, although I used leftover cooked rice instead of potato, and way too much lettuce and arugula for the amount of broth and water, just because I wanted to use it all up. It ended up a little too thick, but would have been perfect with some cream, if I had had any. I topped it with a little feta cheese that needed using (inspired by Giada de Laurentiis' suggestion of a goat cheese topping for her arugula-lettuce soup), and it was pretty good. If I do it again, I will add herbs. Rosemary might be nice with feta or goat cheese, and dill, parsley, or cilantro otherwise.

I still have a fair amount left, so maybe I'll tinker with it...