Winter Squash Lasagna via www.plaidfuzz.com

So has some of you know, I burnt dinner last night.  Yeah, it was bad and we went out to dinner.  *lol*

But, lucky for you, I have a great friend Melissa Haag, of www.plaidfuzz.com who has a FANTASIC vegetarian recipe to share with you!

Let me, let her tell you a little about herself.

My name is Melissa and I am a 33 year old who lives mere minutes from where I was born in Sioux City, Iowa. I am married with a daughter who is 12, two stepsons who are 5 year old twins, and two dogs who are the definite babies in this house! I have been a hairstylist for more than 15 years and love the creative aspect of my job, but am cutting back to part time so we can homeschool our daughter.  I also freelance write, blog, do some photography on the side, am an independent distributor with Young Living Essential Oils, and am a local advocate for Compassion International. I have more hobbies than time and they include reading, crocheting, playing guitar, and nature walks with my camera in hand. I am addicted to my label maker, I suffer from trypophobia, and my favorite wine is Cabernet Sauvignon. The most important part of my story took place about 5 years ago, when after a lifetime of growing up with legalism and hypocrisy in the church I came to know Jesus Christ personally. A door blew open in my heart and light filled my life that I had no idea even existed. I still struggle daily, but the struggle has a purpose now, and I am blessed beyond measure to be able to share it with some amazing people.

So, without further adue, I bring to you, from Melissa's kitchen,

Winter Squash Lasagna:

My husband’s grocery shopping skills are somewhat of a running joke in our house. No matter how detailed the list I send with him, he comes home with the wrong thing. Once he came home with margarine instead of butter.

Me: “This isn’t butter, this won’t work in the recipe.”

Him: “Yes, it is butter and I got it on sale for 79¢, so HA HA.”

Me: “This is margarine, its not the same thing as butter.”

Him: “Yes, it IS butter! Look at the picture on the front! It shows butter!”

You get the idea.

So when I sent him to the store for frozen butternut squash, I really should have known better. We love butternut squash. We use it in everything from tagines to soup. But I hate trying to chop it up - its tough stuff! I decided this time we would just pay the extra dollar and get it pre-chopped and ready to go. What my husband actually came home with is something called “Winter Squash” which was pureed, and frozen into a big, square chunk.  There was no way a puree was going to work in the recipe, so I grumpily tossed it in the freezer and forgot about it. 

A few months later we re-tooled our food budget and started focusing on using up what we already had on hand. When I took an inventory of the freezer, there it was. Shoved under bags of frozen lima beans, the infamous squash. What on earth was I going to make with that? After some googling and imagination, I present to you Squash Lasagna. Believe me, I spent a lot of time coming up with that name.

Start by combining:

2 packages of frozen winter squash (thawed)

2 1/2 C almond milk

salt to taste

Set that bowl aside.

For the white sauce you will need:

3 1/2 T flour

3 1/2 T olive oil

2 1/4 C almond milk

Add the flour to a saucepan and briefly heat it over medium heat. Remove from heat and add oil, whisk together. Then add milk and throughly whisk it together so there are no clumps. Return to heat and continue whisking until the sauce thickens. 

The rest of the ingredients are:

dash of nutmeg

dash of thyme

dash of cayenne pepper

1/2 C ricotta cheese

No-boil lasagna noodles

2 C shredded cheese

pepper

Add ricotta cheese and 1/2 C shredded cheese to your white sauce and stir until melted and incorporated. Season with salt and pepper.



Now you are ready to assemble the lasagna in a baking pan. Spray some cooking spray in the bottom, then add a thin layer of the white sauce.

 Layer noodles, squash mixture, shredded cheese, noodles, squash noodles. Then pour the rest of the white sauce over the top, and add a little more shredded cheese. The amount of shredded cheese will vary to your taste, and can even be omitted if you are insane and don’t like a cheesy lasagna. 

Cover with foil and bake at 350º in a pre-heated oven for 20 minutes, then uncover and bake for about 20 minutes more. Let it sit for a few minutes after you remove it from the oven, before you cut it. Or it will be shapeless and gushy. Don’t ask me how I know. 

Enjoy!

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WOW!  That looks amazing!  Who says vegetarian eating isn't delicious!  Thanks so much Melissa! 

So give this great recipe tonight and share your pictures on TKW FB page as well as Melissa's Facebook page !

And as always...

Happy Reading, Happy Eating, and Happy Living,

~The Kitchen Wife~

PRINTABLE RECIPE