Roasted Butternut and Sweet Potato Whole Wheat Lasagna.
I’m in dirty lust.
Which is huge. Because you may remember that I don’t even like lasagna. Oh cheese and quackers! Big news: I now love it. I don’t just love it. I flippin’ love it.
Sidebar: does sage freak anyone else the heck out? It’s just so… furry. It is one of my favorite herbs – I love everything about it from it’s taste to it’s scent, but I can barely get past it’s touch. And it’s not furry like a peach. It’s furry like some sort of… creeper.
That’s why I like to make it crispy. Well, that… and because two weeks ago I ate pumpkin ravioli with crisped sage over top and I actually thought that I had died. Like, that I was dead. Literally. Nothing on Earth should be allowed to taste that good.
Here’s one thing I will not be winning an award for anytime soon… cutting squares of lasagna. I think you’re supposed to let it “set” or something? Ha! Like I’d have the patience for that. I nearly consumed the pan with a spoon fresh from the oven. Taste buds be damned.
I know that this mess of cheesy squash doesn’t look like much, but I gotta tell you that it’s probably the most visually underrated dish I have ever made. I didn’t expect it to taste half as delicious as it did… and I was completely blown away. There is so much flavor packed into each little square that it’s like eating a giant plate of autumn. Plus, all of that squash has to count for a few days worth of vegetables. I love when I accidentally on purpose eat something delicious. Â
Roasted Butternut and Sweet Potato Whole Wheat Lasagna
makes one 8×8 dish
9-12 whole wheat lasagna noodle sheets (preferably no-boil)
1/2 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed (about 2 cups cubed)
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (about 1 1/2 cups cubed)
12 ounces mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 shallot, thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1 1/2 cups freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated mozzarella cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
a bunch of sage leaves
olive oil for drizzling
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
For squash & potatoes: Lay cubed squash and potatoes on a baking sheet, and drizzle with a bit of olive oil (only about 1-2 teaspoons). Use your hands to coat the squash and potatoes with olive oil, then sprinkle with nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Roast for 50 minutes, tossing every 15 minutes or so. Remove from oven and let cool.
Once cool, mash with a potato masher or fork. After mashing mine, I actually used a hand mixer with beaters to “whip” them a bit more, but that isn’t necessary. The consistency is up to you. Just make sure it is spreadable.
For mascarpone filling: Heat a skillet over medium heat and add butter. Add in shallots and garlic, and whisk every 30 seconds or so for 2-3 minutes. The butter should brown and the shallots and garlic should be fragrant. You don’t want the butter to burn – Â if it seems to hot, reduce the heat. If it does burn, start over (sorry – totally worth it though!). Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.
In a bowl, combine mascarpone, 3/4 cup parmesan cheese, remaining salt and pepper, and the shallots, butter and garlic. Mix until somewhat smooth and spreadable.
Layer lasagna: Spray an 8×8 pan with non-stick spray, then lay 2-3 (depending on size/brand) noodles down. Spread half of the squash mixture evenly over top, then spread/crumble half of the mascarpone on top of that. Sprinkle half of the mozzarella and remaining parmesan on next, then repeat with one more set of noodles, squash, mascarpone, and cheese.
Top the dish over with a bunch of sage leaves that will crisp up in the oven. Bake for 45 minutes, or until cheese on top is golden and bubbly. This dish will serve 2-4 as an entree, and 4-6 as a side dish.
Promise me you’ll make this for dinner. Promise!!
301 Comments on “Roasted Butternut and Sweet Potato Whole Wheat Lasagna.”
My mom and I just made this tonight, and it was delicious! We also had the crunchy noodle problem. I think that there just wasn’t enough liquid in the cheese and squash/potatoes to soften them. We also couldn’t find mascarpone at the store, but a quick Google search suggested using cream cheese, 1/4 c sour cream, and 1/4 c heavy cream instead, and that seemed to work rather well. Overall, it gets a big Yum!
Can i sub ricotta for mascarpone and get similar results!?
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Jessica, I am in the process of making this but don’t have any mascarpone cheese. Is there something I could substitute instead?
Merci!!
I think a few people mentioned ricotta? I have not tried it but it may work – in an emergency you could *maybe* use cream cheese but I really have no idea how that would taste.
I used a mixture of cream cheese, cottage cheese, and sour cream! I was scared but it came out so delightful. I baked them in ramekins so I had one for dinner last night and one for breakfast this morning!
Thanks for this awesome recipe (that my dad called bizonya)!
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A friend posted the link to your recipe on Facebook. Looked delicious and I just tried it out…it’s AMAZING!!! Thank you for posting this!! :)
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Hi Jessica, sorry if someone posted a question like this already. I didn’t have time to read all of them.
I made this dish this weekend and followed the recipe exactly (unless I’m losing my mind, which is likely) and although the flavor was wonderfully rich, it came out very greasy and the bottom noodles didn’t cook completely. I used whole wheat, oven ready noodles and cooked for 45 min at 350 degrees. I’d love to make this dish again if I can fix these mishaps of mine.
Thank you!
Hi Alison! A few others had the crunchy noodle issue – I didn’t, but am not familiar with lasagna recipes so it probably is my recipe. I would suggest layering a bit of the squash/sweet potato on the bottom before adding the noodles. As for the greasiness, I didn’t have that issue but a few others did as well! I’m not sure if it’s the butter or the cheese… maybe try adding a little less butter or trying a different kind of cheese? Someone else said they just drained the grease off and ate it anyway! Wish I had more suggestions, but since I am such a lasagna virgin I can’t say for sure. As I continue to test and work on lasagna recipes I’ll be sure to update it. If you find any other tricks, let me know! :)
Alison and Jessica – I had the exact same issues (except all my noodles were a lot undercooked) and was going to post a question about them. Going forward I think I’ll just use the regular boil noodles and maybe less butter. I had never used the no boil noodles and was wondering how it would get the moisture needed to cook the noodles. But the flavor was so good.
Thanks for the recipe Jessica.
Thanks for the tip Jamie!
Although I haven’t tried the your lasagna yet, which BTW sounds completely yummy, I do have a tip when using noil boil noodles. Next time try soaking the noodles in warm water, just a little, till they soften a bit. I haven’t had any problems with hard noodles when I soak them a bit first – hope this helps. Can’t wait to give your “Roasted Butternut and Sweet Potato Whole Wheat Lasagna”
Bon-appetit!
My husband made this for me tonight. Oh my word!
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I made this last night (what can I say, it takes me a while to hold up a promise!) It was incredible! I was skeptical only because both my fiancé and I like our meat. I couldn’t believe how filling this was, we both loved it! I added mushrooms to the brown butter mixture for some more substance. I used a mixture of ricotta, mascarpone and this Asiago soft cheese stuff I picked up last week, it totally did the trick. I also I couldn’t find whole wheat lasagna noodles and I don’t terribly care for the prep of making them (several times I used the no boil ones in regular lasagna they came out crunchy, I saw a lot of people had this issue with the recipe) so I made it as a ziti with spiral wheat pasta. Yummmy :}
Jess- you’ll love this one, my hunny left the crispy sage leaf on his plate. That’s the best part!!
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I made this without the mascarpone cheese, substituting cream cheese that had been whipped with whipping cream. Once version of the substitution also added butter. I just goodled subsitutions for mascarpone. I couldn’t find the no boil whole wheat lasagna noodles. I just used regular whole wheat lasagna noodles that I boiled long enough to make them easy to work with. It turned out wonderful…the crisy sage leaves where a big hit. I made it about a month ago for my daughter’s family and I’m making it again tonight for my husband.
Jessica, I made this last night and it was amazing. I mixed the mascarpone with Ricotta and used gluten free lasagne noodles instead. I opted to cook it a little bit longer on a lower heat to make sure my noodles cooked all the way through. This is my new favorite recipe. The sage, shallots and garlic mix so nicely with the butternut squash and sweet potatoes. My husband was in heaven. I am sure I will be making this dish a few more times during the winter months.
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oh MY!!! it just came out of the oven…..yes I know it is almost 10:30 at night, I’m trying to be prepared for tomorrow! Since lasagna is always better the next day., oh but how is it possible to get better?? So freaking good!!!! at this exact moment… it is better than chocolate!!! and that is HUGE! for me anyways! Thanks for the awesome recipe!!
I’m writing this STUFFED after just finished eating this for dinner. By far one of the best recipes I’ve had in a very long time. I also had too much grease which I sopped up with a papertowel, really isn’t that big of a deal. The bottom noodle was somewhat crunchy but this too was not a big deal. The flavors in this dish are absolutely amazing! I will be making this again and again for sure!!
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I made this yesterday… but with a few modification to the cheese mixture : I used ricotta instead of mascarpone and mixed it with about 2 cups of fresh spinach for extra veggies and extra moisture. Next time I will had some cherry tomatoes in between layers, because I though it was missing something! Oh and I tried sage for the first time in my life, because of you :)
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I made this for Thanksgiving and it was wonderful!! I read through the comments and wanted to offer a suggestion regarding no-boil noodles. If you have the time, make your lasagna a day before and let it sit in the fridge until you are ready to bake it. The moisture in the sauce/cheese softens the noodles before baking, and then baking them finishes the job! I used Trader Joe’s no-boil noodles and this trick worked well. I’ve made lasagna with this brand of no-boil noodles before, not letting the dish set beforehand, and the noodles stayed completely crunchy. I also had the oil issue people have mentioned, and also used TJ’s cheese for all three varieties. I have a feeling that the cheese is the culprit in the oil department. But we just used a paper towel to mop it up and dug in! Thanks for the recipe, and sorry for such a lengthy comment!!
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Is there any way you could adapt the measurements for a 9×13 pan? I’ll probably just eyeball it, but it’d be nice to have. :)
Kris, I believe that you can just double the amounts to fit in a 9×13 pan.
Yep – double it!
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My daughter forwarded me this recipe and I made it. Yeah, it was delicious.
I want to make it for her 21st birthday party which is tomorrow evening. Its mid-afternoon.
Just checking its ok to make it and re-heat it, so should I just assemble it all this afternoon and bake it tomorrow.
Basically what can I prefer in advance?
Yep you can make it in advance!
Prepare
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I made this yesterday and it came out great. I doubled the recipe because I only had a 9×12 pan and we like leftovers! To avoid any issues with uncooked noodles, I added some chicken stock (@about a 1/2 cup) the to the sauteed shallot and garlic mixture before adding it to the mascarpone. I also poured a little stock into the pan before putting in the first layer of lasagna noodles. Then, I let it sit covered with foil for about an hour before putting it in the oven. I also used sliced fresh mozzerella instead of shredded. We loved it!
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I PROMISE I will make this because I have sweet potatoes and squash in my basement that are calling out to be used up! And a bunch of sage in my fridge that is going to go bad if I don’t figure out what else to do with it…
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The first time I made this it was for 3 other people and myself, and we all felt our arteries clogging slowly after every bite. But damn, this lasagna is delicious. I also made it yesterday for a party and people were going cr-azy over it! I should’ve made more…but that would’ve been nuts since I already doubled the recipe. SO good!
Made it!! Very yummy!
This was absolutely as good as you said it would be! On the advice of other posters, I also half-cooked my noodles. They still came out a little crispy, but in a good way.
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In the oven right now, with fresh homemade pasta! Smells amazing!!
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Hah! you sound so funny~ Thanks for the post – pictures and all! I’m going to try this tonight! :)
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What you can do to solve the issues with greasiness AND undercooked noodles is create a bechamel (white sauce) out of the mascarpone instead of leaving it as a spread. Still use the no-boil lasagna sheets, though, to absorb the liquid – plus, it eliminates the step of cooking the noodles and uses one less (LARGE) pot!
Just melt the 3 T butter and cook the shallot and garlic as you have written, but add 3 T flour towards the end of the cooking time to create a roux. Season w/s&p lightly and a little freshly grated nutmeg. Once the flour has cooked for about a minute, whisk in about 3 cups of milk (perferrably whole milk, anything less might curdle), and continue mixing until it has thickened and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Take off the heat. Then mix in your mascarpone till fully incorporated. Pour 1/3 of this sauce in the bottom of the pan before you put in your no-boil noodles and continue layering as noted. Your problems should be solved!