it’s pumpkin/squash season people!🎃 I love Autumn for that particular reason, pumpkin can be used in so many ways in sweet and savory dishes so I always make sure that I make the most of that season’s star fruit. My lasagna feels indulgent (but it’s still reasonable calories!) with the different type of cheeses which is just what you need in these cold evenings!

This lasagna recipe has gone through several iterations in order to get the best flavor out of the squash: I tried boiling, steaming, microwaving, with or without skin and, in the end, peeled and roasted was definitely the tastiest option! It is an extra bit of washing up to do so if you wanted a shortcut to do one mid week, I would recommend to go for the canned pumpkin puree option and the fresh pasta sheets like in my recipe below. If you decided to go for dry pasta sheets, either you would need to precook them before assembly or if you wanted to save up on washing up, just add extra water in the pumpkin mixture to cook fully your pasta.

I love the combination of spinach and pumpkin but if you wanted to use another seasonal veggie, I would recommend black kale or cavalo nero🥬 It has a stronger flavor than spinach but it is absolutely delicious!

This recipe can also be done Low FODMAP following the MONASH university app by not using butternut squash but Japanese pumpkin or Kabocha squash. The pasta can be swapped with gluten free pasta, the milk can be lactose free and you can use only cheddar cheese (or most hard cheese as the lactose content is quite low!)🧀.

So I’m gonna stop rambling and start sharing the recipe now! Here we go:

My pumpkin and spinach lasagna 🎃

Servings: 6

Time required: 90 minutes

Level of difficulty: Easy

Equipment required: hand held blender, baking dish 25cmx40cm

Ingredients

• 1 kg of squash (you can use butternut or pumpkin)
• 300 g of frozen spinach
• 250 g of ricotta
• 4 tbsp olive oil + olive oil spray
• 3 tbsp of flour
• 1 pint of semi skimmed milk + 100 mL for the pumpkin puree
• 300 g of fresh lasagna sheets
• 150 g of emmental (or mature grated cheddar if you prefer)
• 6 slices of goat cheese log (I used the french brand Chavroux but you can skip this if you are not a fan of goat cheese)
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• 1 tsp of nutmeg
• salt/black pepper

Instructions

1. Defrost the spinach a couple of hours before starting to cook or if you did not plan it ahead, pour some boiling water over the spinach in a sieve then squeeze well to remove the water
2. On a medium heat, heat the 4 tbsp of olive oil with the flour then slowly add the milk stirring continuously with a whisk to make your white sauce
3. Add 50 g of the cheese, the drained spinach, the nutmeg and season well with salt and pepper to taste then mix everything thoroughly and set aside
4. Peel and cut the squash in big chunks then throw them in a baking tray, spraying them generously with olive oil
5. Sprinkle salt, pepper and add the thyme then mix well and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 15-20 minutes or until golden
6. Transfer the squash in a large bowl (remember to discard the woody bit of the thyme!), add 50 g of the ricotta and using the hand held blender, whiz up everything until you get a smooth puree
7. Add 100 mL of milk and 50 mL of water to the mixture and mix well then set aside
8. It is now time to build up the lasagna! Using a 25cmx40cm baking dish, alternate layers of squash puree, spinach white sauce and fresh uncooked pasta sheets and finish it off with little dollops of ricotta on top, a sprinkle of emmental cheese and the slices of goat cheese
9. Bake the lasagna at 180°C for 25 minutes or until the cheese starts to get golden

Et voila! ☺🍁 Have a side salad to go with it even though this is already 2 of your 5 portions of fruit/veg a day! Leave me a comment if you ever decide to try this recipe out! Enjoy x