^{It’s that time of year for hearty, creamy comfort food! Curl up in your favorite sweats and indulge in this veggie packed, cheesy lasagna. With four different vegetables (including a cauliflower cream sauce) and FOUR different cheeses, this fall lasagna is surprisingly easy to make and perfect when the temperature dips.}

Fun fact! Lasagna has never been my favorite meal. I never understood it. I never loved the odd layers of cheese and sauce. It always felt like such a heavy meal and never did it for me. That was until I started growing up and learned that there are right and wrong ways to make it. Generic recipes with low quality ingredients seemed to be the faulty culprit for my disgust in the casserole. If you know me at all, you also know that I can skip most pasta-based meals in general.

It wasn’t until I grew up and watched my father make some decadent, homemade, authentic, Italian baked pastas that changed my perspective on lasagna in general. I really won’t waste my calories on basic lasagna anymore. In fact, just really good baked pasta dishes are a fantastic“cheat day” meal if there’s thought and care put into them.

It got me thinking about other lasagna variations that I could start making and other easy casseroles that I could pull together for the week and voila! This insanely delicious butternut squash lasagna was born. Then why just stop with one vegetables when I could lighten up this meal and add some more. White lasagnas are, in fact, a thing and that’s where I was going with this dish.

I think when there’s a mild drop in temperature when the fall season hits, I just want to completely forget about the slim summer meals. Instead, I want to curl up on the couch, light some candles and hug an entire bowl of something cheesy and comforting. I ALMOST thought that I could get into the pumpkin fad and do a pumpkin-y recipe with pasta and cheese but butternut squash is just WAY better.

Here is the secret! I skipped the béchamel sauce altogether and made a very sneaky cream sauce of CAULIFLOWER and CREAM CHEESE! Heck yes! It took the guilt factor down just a tiny notch seeing that this recipe doesn’t skimp on cheese and pasta. Believe it or not, this was one of those recipes that I kept picking at with a fork, directly from the casserole dish throughout the day…just in shock how good it was!

This recipe is completely vegetarian (although sneaking some turkey or chicken sausage in it would have been dynamite) and full of vegetables! It’s the perfect seasonal lasagna that’ll have you feeling cozy and comforted. There’s a lot to feel good about when you’re eating this and it doesn’t feel guilt-free at all!

5 from 1 vote

Butternut Squash, Mushroom & Spinach Lasagna

Print Recipe

It’s that time of year for hearty, creamy comfort food! Curl up in your favorite sweats and indulge in this veggie packed, cheesy lasagna. With four different vegetables (including a cauliflower cream sauce) and FOUR different cheeses, this fall lasagna is surprisingly easy to make and perfect when the temperature dips.

Prep Time:2

Total Time:2

Ingredients

For the Cream Sauce:

1 pound frozen cauliflower florets
1 cup almond milk
8 ounces reduced fat cream cheese plain
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

For the Vegetable Filling:

1-2 tablespoons olive oil extra virgin
1 ½ pounds (about 5 cups cubed) butternut squash peeled, seeded, cubed
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon oregano
1 ½ teaspoon salt divided
4 cups fresh spinach
4-6 cloves fresh garlic crushed
1 small onion diced
1 ½ pounds baby bella mushrooms sliced

For the Ricotta Filling:

1 pound part skim ricotta cheese
1 large egg
1 tablespoon garlic minced
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper

For the Lasagna Assembly:

12-16 ounces no-boil lasagna noodles
3 cups low-moisture, part skim mozzarella cheese shredded
½ cup asiago cheese grated
6-8 leaves fried sage ***directions below (optional)**

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425°.

For the Cream Sauce:

Using a large pot, add cauliflower, milk and cover. Bring the pot to medium-high heat and cook covered for about 12-15 minutes until the cauliflower is soft and completely mushy.
Add cream cheese, salt, pepper, mustard and stir until the cream cheese melts. Add an immersion blender and completely cream together the cauliflower with the cream cheese until smooth. Add more milk if too thick. Add nutmeg at the end and stir, remove from heat, and set aside.

For the Vegetable Filling:

Drizzle a large baking sheet with olive oil and add chopped butternut squash. Sprinkle garlic powder, paprika, pepper and oregano on the squash. Toss so that the seasoning coats almost all the squash cubes. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt and roast for 15 minutes.
Remove and toss the squash. Roast for about another 13 minutes until squash is soft and slightly crispy. Remove from oven and gently smash the squash with a potato masher and top with spinach and add back into the oven for 2-3 more minutes until spinach wilts.
In a large sauce pan, add a little olive oil and bring to a medium-high heat. Add garlic and onion and cook for about 4-5 minutes until the onion becomes translucent. Add in mushrooms and cook for about 3-5 minutes on medium high until the mushrooms start to develop color. Remove and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Pour mushrooms and onions onto the pan with the butternut squash and spinach and toss everything together.

For the Ricotta Filling:

In a large mixing bowl whisk one egg with ricotta, minced garlic, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Set back into the fridge until time for assembly.

For the Lasagna Assembly:

Turn the oven temperature down to 375°.
To assemble the lasagna, grease a 13 x 9” casserole dish (2 1/2 -3” deep) pour about 1/3 of the cauliflower cream sauce into the base of the pan. Coat the bottom in sauce.
Layer in 1/3 of the box of no-boil noodles so they cover the whole bottom of the pan. You may need to break and fit pieces together. Top with 1/2 the ricotta mix, 1/2 the tray of vegetable filling and sprinkle with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese. Repeat this one more time with 1/3 of the box of noodles the other half of the ricotta, the other half of the vegetable filling, and another cup of mozzarella. Top with the rest of the noodles.
Pour the remaining cauliflower cream sauce on the top noodle layer and sprinkle with the last cup of mozzarella cheese. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and discard the foil. Top with asiago cheese and place back into the oven for an additional 15-20 minutes. (Broil the last 2 minutes if desired).
Top with fresh parsley or fried sage and crushed red pepper flakes. Top with a little more cracked black pepper and serve hot!

Notes

How long does it last and where?

I ate this for at least 4-5 days after sealing it up in a large airtight container.

Can you freeze it?

I think it could be frozen as I know that some lasagnas are perfect freezer meals. I did not test this in the freezer but I will suggest trying. Cook the vegetables and make the sauce in advance and then layer it up. Don’t bake ahead of time because you want the shredded cheese to melt for the first time on its own. Assemble it until the time to add it to the oven, but instead wrap it tightly and freeze it.

Substitutions?

I could have added tons of vegetables to this but I wanted there to be focus on the butternut squash and all the cheesy, noodle layers. Here are some options for all the layers that will work:

- - Using no-boil noodles is the key. Of course you can use fresh pasta noodles or even the boil ahead ones. I like that the no-boil ones absorb all the flavor melting through while cooking in the bake. They also become more al-dente than boiled noodles which is perfect for holding together the layers.
  - There are four different types of cheese in this recipe. Mozzarella is usually the safest “lasagna” cheese but I thought a mild white cheddar would have also been really good. Ricotta (another lasagna staple) is used but you can substitute a tofu ricotta if you choose. I love my homemade ricotta but I sprung for store bought in this recipe. For all the cheese in this recipe (minus the asiago on the top) I opted for lighter, less fat cheese.
  - The cream sauce on the top is decadent! It’s blended cream cheese and steamed cauliflower to make the cream cheese go a long way with vegetables. Make a béchamel sauce if needed or simply find a jarred Alfredo sauce for a fast swap.
  - Add any sautéed vegetables in this recipe you want. Mushrooms are a must but I could see chopped eggplant, tomatoes, kale or pretty much any variation of squash in this recipe.

Tips and Tricks

I highly suggest prepping all the ingredients before layering (instead of while layering) as it makes for a faster, more organized process, and less messy. Nothing needs to be added as it’s piping hot. It’s perfectly fine to allow everything to cool off a little before assembling.

It may cost you a tad bit more but I always love buying pre chopped butternut squash. It saves you time and it’s make this easier to throw together. After roasting the squash completely, add spinach right to the hot sheet pan and allow it to wilt down as you smash the butternut squash. This will save you a pan for sautéing spinach. Easy enough!

When sautéing the mushrooms, let them cool before adding the salt. Adding salt before sautéing completely creates steam and then you don’t get that nutty char to the mushroom. Steamed mushrooms will get chewy and gummy in the lasagna.

Always layer the bottom of the lasagna dish with a little sauce before adding the other ingredients. Yes, spray it down with nonstick cooking spray and then spoon in enough sauce just to coat the bottom of the casserole dish. This will prevent the lasagna from sticking to the bottom.

When cooking this, there are three different oven steps that I took to accomplish the melted cheese but also the coloring at the top! Bake covered, then bake a little bit more uncovered and then turn on the broiler the final two minutes (while watching closely).

When covering the casserole dish with foil, it’s also a great idea to spray a sheet of parchment paper down with nonstick cooking spray and then use it to separate the foil from the lasagna. That way if the cheese sticks to the covering the sprayed parchment paper will protect it.

Finally, the best topping to this entire masterpiece was the fried sage. Yup! We are adding something fried! Instructions: **Fill a shallow pot with about 1/2” – 1” of oil (canola oil works fine) and bring the oil to high heat. Test with one sage leaf. This is a fast process! Once you see one leaf hit oil and immediately start to bubble, that’s the perfect temp and allow it to fry for about 20-30 seconds. Carefully remove and add to a paper towel. Let it cool and become crispy and top the lasagna! These are edible and delicious! You can garnish the lasagna with fresh sage leaves for presentation but DON’T eat it fresh! It’ll overpower the dish and make you feel like you just ate a Christmas tree.

What to serve with it?

This goes perfect with a little side salad or my Italian Roasted Broccoli. Top with my Roasted Tomatoes for a whole other layer of flavor!

I like things a little hotter so I would add some hot sauce or red pepper flakes at the end. The cream sauce and cheese will mellow it out!

Nutrition

Course: Main Course, Main Dish

Cuisine: American, Italian, Other

Keyword: Cheat Day, Cheese, Pasta, Vegetarian

Servings: people

Calories: 447kcal

Author: Michelle Cerutti

Butternut Squash, Mushroom & Spinach Lasagna

Ingredients

For the Cream Sauce:

For the Vegetable Filling:

For the Ricotta Filling:

For the Lasagna Assembly:

Instructions

For the Cream Sauce:

For the Vegetable Filling:

For the Ricotta Filling:

For the Lasagna Assembly:

Notes

Nutrition

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