Meat-Free Monday: This butternut squash lasagne is insanely good
Cooking the same things over and over can get boring and when the responsibility for inspiration is always on you, dinner times can become something to be dreaded, instead of a chance to reconnect and relax during the day.
To save you the stress, we’ve checked out this stunning vegetarian lasagne dish that is not only healthy and can be whipped up in minutes but will be one of your tastiest meals of the week – and you can freeze it to save some for later! Win win!
Ingredients
- 1 butternut squash
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 yellow onion
- 1tsp dried basil
- Fresh basil
- 1tsp dried oregano
- Salt and pepper
- 200g mozzarella
- 100g parmesan shavings
- 100g ricotta
- Fresh parsley
- 1 egg
- 1 can chopped tomatoes
- 100ml water
- Olive oil
- 1tsp tomato paste
- 50g washed spinach
Method
Heat your oven to 200C.
Cut your butternut squash in half width-ways, separating the heavy, bulbous end from the slimmer top.
Peel the skin off the upper, slimmer half. Once peeled, begin to slice the squash downwards, creating thin, 1/8 inch slices that will replace our sheets of pasta.
Heat olive oil over a medium heat in a pan. Toss in chopped onions and garlic. Cook for 4-5 minutes, until onion start to brown.
Add salt, pepper, basil and oregano to the mix and stir into the garlic and onions.
Next, add in your chopped tomatoes and tomato paste, with 100ml of water.
Cook for 8-10 minutes stirring occasionally to thicken.
Place your ricotta cheese into a bowl and add parmesan shavings and an egg.
Using a fork, blend them well together.
Toss in shredded parsley and mix in as well.
In your baking dish, follow this process:
1. Spoon in a bottom layer of your tomato sauce, then a layer of your butternut squash sheets.
2. Then another layer of sauce, a layer of spinach leaves and finally a layer of your ricotta-parmesan blend, topped with mozzarella.
Repeat step one and two until your dish is full and top it off with a final sprinkle of mozzarella before cooking for 40 minutes at 200C. Serve with some sprigs of fresh basil!
