Butternut Squash Lasagne with Mushrooms, Sage, Kale, and Cashew-Cauliflower Bechamel Recipe - Pamela Salzman (2024)

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Author:Pamela

Serves:8

Ingredients

• 6 Tablespoons unrefined, cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil, divided
• For vegan ricotta:
• 8 ounces cauliflower florets, cut into ½ -inch pieces (2 ¼ cups)
• 1 ½ cups raw cashews, chopped
• 2 ¼ teaspoons sea salt, divided + additional (you can use kosher salt in Step 2)
• 1 large butternut squash (about 3 pounds), peeled, sliced into 36⅛-inch rounds (I use the top/ "neck" of the butternut squash, but you can use the bottom as well.)
• For the vegetables:
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 8 ounces mushrooms, any kind, thinly sliced
• 6 fresh sage leaves, plus additional for garnish if desired
• 1 bunch kale, such as dinosaur, stems removed, chopped
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. To make the ricotta: Bring 3 quarts of water to boil in a large saucepan. Add cauliflower florets, cashews, and 2 teaspoons salt and cook until cauliflower is very soft and falls apart easily when poked with a fork, about 20 minutes. Drain cauliflower mixture in colander and let cool slightly, about 5 minutes.
3. Make the ricotta: Process cauliflower mixture, 3 Tablespoons olive oil and ¼ cup water in a clean food processor until smooth, about 2 minutes. Mixture will be slightly grainy. Season with ¼ teaspoon salt and black pepper to taste. Transfer ½ cup mixture to a bowl and whisk in 4-5 Tablespoons of water. Season with a big pinch of salt and set aside for topping (let's call this the béchamel sauce.)
4. In a large skillet, warm 2 Tablespoons of olive oil and add the onion, and sauté until tender and translucent. Add mushrooms and sage leaves. Sauté until mushrooms soften, about 3 minutes. Add kale, salt and pepper and sauté until tender, about 6 minutes.
5. Assemble the lasagne: grease a 13x9-inch baking dish with olive oil. Layer about 12 butternut squash slices on the baking dish. They can overlap since you want to cover the bottom of the dish. With a spoon gently spread half of the ricotta mixture over the butternut slices. Top with half of the sautéed vegetable mixture. Layer 12 more butternut squash slices. Spread remaining ricotta and top with remaining vegetables.
6. For the last layer, cover with remaining butternut slices and pour reserved béchamel sauce over the squash. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30-40 minutes. Remove foil and bake uncovered for 30 more minutes, or until squash is tender. Let cool for 10 minutes and serve. Garnish with fresh sage leaves or fry them in olive oil in a skillet if desired (my preference).

Notes

To fry sage leaves. Warm up a small skillet over medium heat. Add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil. Add sage leaves. If you are frying more than ¼ cup of sage, you will probably need more oil. Reduce heat to medium low and stir sage leaves in oil until fragrant and the leaves begin to darken, about 3 minutes. Remove sage leaves with a slotted spoon or tongs and place on a plate lined with a paper towel to absorb any excess oil. They will crisp as they cool.
If you eat dairy, you can use a 15-ounce container of ricotta combined with 1 beaten egg to replace the cashew ricotta. You can use shredded fontina and grated parmesan to top the casserole.

1. 

   Christy Schafer DelMastro

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   October 14, 2022 at 4:55 am

   I made a comment in November of 2020 about how disappointed I was in this recipe. You were kind enough to offer comments of encouragement and you made some suggestions – one of which was not to give up on it. I did try it again last week and this time I used a mandolin to slice the butternut squash. the lasagna was delicious!!!! I will certainly make it again!! Thank you! I appreciate you!

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     PamelaModerator

     October 17, 2022 at 10:38 am

     Thanks, Christy! So happy to hear you gave this recipe another try.

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2. 

   Richard

   November 12, 2021 at 2:02 am

   Hi there. Can you also use Hokkaido instead of butternut? I have two small ones left that I’d like to use. Thx

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     PamelaModerator

     November 12, 2021 at 10:44 am

     I love Hokkaido/Kuri squash. but it’s a really different shape from butternut and I don’t think you can get thin layers from it. What you can do is roast slices first, take the roasted flesh off the peel and use traditional lasagna pasta noodles in place of the butternut and just add cubes of the cooked Hokkaido squash between the layers!

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3. 

   alilaur@aol.com

   December 9, 2020 at 8:16 pm

   I made this recipe and added some marinara sauce and my family loved it!!
   Thank you Pamela for your amazing recipes!!!

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     PamelaModerator

     December 10, 2020 at 2:50 pm

     Yummy!

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4. 

   Christy Schafer DelMastro

   November 22, 2020 at 3:44 am

   so disappointed! I found it hard to make- hard to peel butternut squash and nearly impossible to slice thin enough. i always love your recipes but i won’t be making this one again.

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     PamelaModerator

     November 23, 2020 at 12:06 pm

     I’m sorry you had a negative experience with this recipe. This is such a delicious recipe and I wouldn’t give up on it just yet. It can be challenging to cut butternut squash because it tends to get slippery after you peel it. If you don’t have a sharp vegetable peeler, you can use a sharp knife. I always separate the neck (top half of the squash) from the bottom part, peel it and slice it as thin as I can. It doesn’t have to be paper thin, but as thin as you can. If the squash becomes slippery, you can try holding it in place with a paper towel. If you don’t have enough slices, you can use another butternut squash to supplement or use the bottom half of the squash containing seeds. Peel and remove the seeds. You will probably have to cut the squash in half, lengthwise to do this and will end up with half moons, which is totally fine. I hope you give it another try.

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       J M

       November 29, 2020 at 9:40 am

       I made it -a lot of work but it was delicious. I might add just a touch more liquid to bechamel sauce to make it easier to layer on. Where can I find the nutritional values?

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         PamelaModerator

         November 30, 2020 at 12:14 pm

         It’s not a quick meal to put together, but definitely worth the effort. Glad to enjoyed it! Unfortunately, I don’t have any nutritional info for this recipe.

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5. 

   Mindy Wise

   November 19, 2020 at 4:30 am

   Do you think this could be assembled and then frozen for cooking at a later date?

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     PamelaModerator

     November 19, 2020 at 10:12 am

     I wouldn’t suggest it. I think it would get too mushy if you try to freeze it.

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6. 

   Lisa Gallant

   November 18, 2020 at 11:08 am

   This looks delicious,…can you suggest a substitute for the cashews we are anaphylactic to tree and peanut and coconut sadly. Thanks Love your recipes!!
   Lisa

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     PamelaModerator

     November 18, 2020 at 11:58 am

     I haven’t tried making the cashew-cauliflower ricotta without nuts, but maybe cooked white beans would work in place of the cashews. Just a guess though. I’ve also seen some people make a tofu ricotta with tofu, lemon juice, nutritional yeast and/or miso. Or you can use a dairy ricotta, but the dish will not be entirely vegan.

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