Butternut and Sage Lasagna
Butternut and Sage Lasagna
I have made this a few times and it’s always a big hit when I’m entertaining.
The original recipe for this delicious lasagne is from Ixta Belfrage’s book, Mezcla. It’s absolutely delicious.
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 50 minutes
Serving size: 4-6
Difficulty: Medium
Ingredients
1/2 butternut squash, peeled and seeds discarded (about 500g)
400g ripe cherry tomatoes, halved
4 cloves of garlic, finely grated/crushed
1 tbsp tomato paste ( I use the Mutti brand)
2¾ tsp fine salt
5g fresh sage leaves, roughly chopped, plus 10 extra leaves to serve
6 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to finish
220g double cream, plus extra 2 tbsp to serve
80g Parmesan, finely grated, plus extra to serve
¾ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
250g-300g dried lasagne sheets
400g veg stock (I used a cube of Massel salt-reduced veg stock cube dissolved in 400g water of warm water
Method
Heat the oven to 220C fan/240C.
Finely slice the butternut squash into very 4 mm half moons – a mandoline or food processor is good for this.
In a large bowl, mix the squash slices, halved tomatoes, garlic, tomato paste, fine salt, chopped sage, 4 tbsp olive oil and plenty of black pepper, together in a large bowl and toss it all together with your hands.
In a separate bowl, mix the cream, Parmesan and nutmeg together in another bowl. Set 80g of this mixture aside for later.
Cover the bottom of a baking dish (approx. 28cm x 23cm) with a layer of lasagne sheets, then a layer of the squash mixture. Spoon over some of the cream mixture, then continue the layering until you have used everything. Pour the stock evenly over everything in th edish, then cover tightly with foil and bake for 50 minutes.
Remove from the oven and remove the foil. Spoon over the reserved 80g of cream mixture and return to the oven, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
Mix 2 tbsp of the oil with the 10 sage leaves in a small bowl. Spoon this over the lasagne and return to the oven for a final 5-6 minutes, or until the sage leaves look crisp and the lasagne golden-brown.
Rest for 10 minutes, then finish with the 2 tbsp of cream, a good drizzle of olive oil and plenty of extra grated Parmesan.