For my husband's office Christmas party, I made two lasagnas. One meat and the other was this butternut squash one, which received rave reviews from a lot of the guests. I guess because it was different, and the fact that the main ingredient was a vegetable made it seem all that more healthy. I roasted the butternut squash and then pureed it. What is nice about the squash, is that if you don't have time to make lasagna or ravioli or soup with it, you can just freeze the puree for another day. Well, that day came for me, and I made a quick butternut squash lasagna with, basically, leftovers. My 1 year old son loved it. I added minced chicken because that was leftover, and, well, my husband always thinks vegetarian food tastes great, but would taste even better with chicken!
The ham is my husband's cooking highlight which we have made often over the years. Super simple sauce, and it can be whipped up for a big feast (like Easter), or for a weekday treat.
Butternut Squash Lasagna
Serves 8-10
1 large butternut squash, peeled and chopped into 1" cubes
olive oil for drizzling
salt and pepper
no boil lasagna noodles (or lasagna noodles of your choice)
2 c grated mozarella cheese
1/4 c butter
approximately 3 T flour
1 c milk (I use skim, but use whatever you have on hand)
1 c chicken stock
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 sprigs fresh thyme, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Preheat the oven to 375F. Peel and chopped the butternut squash. Pour into a baking pan and drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix with your hands so the oil and spices are incorporated. Ensure the squash is on the pan in an even layer. Roast in the oven for 45 min, or until the butternut squash is soft. Cool for about 5 min and put into a food processor to puree. Add the garlic and thyme and puree until smooth. Set aside. (if you are adding chicken, just add it to this puree).
Meanwhile in a medium size saucepan, heat the butter over medium high heat. Once it is melted, add enough flour that the butter is absorbed and the mixture looks like a paste. Cook for 1 min. Add the chicken stock, mixing with a whisk so there are no lumps. Incorporate the milk. Let the mixture thicken (if it is too thick, add more liquid). Add the nutmeg.
Spray a lasagna pan with cooking spray. Add a few spoonfuls of the puree and white sauce to the bottom of the pan (just a thin layer to cover the bottom and allow the noodles to cook). Add a layer of lasagna noodles, cover with a 1/3 of the squash mixture, 1/4-1/2 c white sauce, 1/2 c mozzarella. Repeat layers until the squash mixture is used up, ending with the cheese on top. Cover with tinfoil.
Bake in 350F oven for 45 min. Increase the temperature to 375F and remove the tinfoil and bake for 5 min, until the top is golden brown.
Horseradish-Marmalade Ham
(Adapted From Epicurious.com)
1, 18 pound bone in smoked ham, room tempertaure
About 48 whole cloves
4 c water
1 c orange marmalade (or apricot jam or peach jam)
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c prepared horseradish
2 c orange juice (or pineapple juice)
Position rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 325°F. Place ham on rack set in large roasting pan. Using sharp knife, score ham in diamond pattern. Press 1 clove into center of each diamond. Pour 4 cups water into roasting pan. Roast ham 1 hour 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, blend marmalade, horseradish, and sugar in medium bowl*.
Remove ham from oven. Transfer ham to baking sheet. Discard pan juices. Return ham to roasting pan. Add orange juice to roasting pan. Brush top of ham with 1/3 of marmalade glaze. Bake ham 10 minutes. Baste with orange juice in pan, then brush with half of remaining glaze. Bake ham 10 minutes. Baste with orange juice in pan and brush with remaining glaze. Roast ham until heated through, basting every 5 minutes, about 20 minutes longer. Let ham rest 15 minutes. Transfer to platter. Serve ham hot, warm, or at room temperature.
*reserve some of the horseradish sauce as a condiment to put on top of the ham
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