Roasted Squash, Hazelnut, Kale and Goat Cheese Lasagna Recipe

katerina — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:58:00 +0000

This Fall lasagna is not your typical meat and bechamel lasagna, classics are delicious but why not try something more seasonal? First roast up cubed squash with spices and hazelnuts and that becomes your basic sauce. Then wilt the kale into some tomatoes and start layering your sauces with your noodles, putting goat’s cheese and mozzarella into the layers. The roasted hazelnuts are so rich, and they really bring out the nuttiness in both the squash and the kale creating a delicious and healthy seasonal treat.

Confession time. Sometimes things are not what they seem to be. This lasagna is actually a soup, look closely and see if you can spot it. Can you see it? You see, I made a roasted hazelnut and kabocha squash soup last week but it was too rich and too thick. It is amazing how rich the flavours of roasted hazelnuts and squash are. I knew it would go well with goat’s cheese and it worked perfectly as a lasagna.

Roasted Squash, Hazelnut, Kale and Goat Cheese Lasagna
(makes one 9×9 lasagna)

1/4 kabocha squash peeled and cubed
1 small onion, peeled and chopped into chunks
1 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon whole coriander
salt and pepper
1/4 cup whole raw hazelnuts
1 cup stock
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1 bunch kale, washed, ribs removed and roughly chopped
1 small can crushed tomatoes
1 package whole wheat lasagna
1 package goat cheese (125g)
1/2 cup grated mozzarella

First make the squash and hazelnut filling:
Preheat oven to 400F. Using a mortar and pestle pulverize coriander with salt and pepper. On a baking sheet toss onions, squash olive oil and spices together. Bake for 30 minutes tossing partway through. Add hazelnuts to the pan and roast for another 5-8 minutes. Watch carefully you want to be able to smell the nuts but not have them burn. Toss squash, onions, hazelnuts and parsley in a blender with 2 cups of the stock, adding more as necessary to pulse. Taste and correct for seasoning. Note that I actually made a double batch of this which is a bit easier. It will freeze well.

Secondly cook the kale:
Heat a large skillet to medium heat. If kale is still wet, perfect, toss it in the pan. Otherwise add kale with a few tablespoons of water. Sprinkle with a 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Stir fry until slightly wilted about 5 -8 minutes. Stir in crushed tomatoes and remove from heat.

Assemble lasagna:
If you are using ready to cook noodles, you may want to add a bit of extra water to your sauces. Otherwise cook the noodles to the package directions. Start with a layer of squash sauce followed by one of noodles, kale sauce and half the mozzarella. Keep repeating layers such as: noodles, squash, half the goat cheese crumbled, noodles, kale, noodles, squash, noodles, etc. Finish with a little bit of squash sauce and remaining goat cheese and mozzarella. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until bubbly. Cool for 10 more minutes before serving.

Sausage and Sage Stuffing Recipe

katerina — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 03:15:00 +0000

I have been hearing about the perfect stuffing ever since I started dating J. Every time he tastes sage he starts talking about his Mum’s stuffing and how fabulous it was. (In fact I used to have an eye cream that had rosemary in it that he loved – because then I smelled kinda like stuffing.)

So he has been trying to reproduce what he remembers of his favorite stuffing his Mum used to make. We chatted with her at Christmas and got an understanding of what she did and then used this as a reference. Of course, when I say we, I mean him. This was all him – and a big success! This post is mostly a reference for us so we know what to do last time. This time we used too much bread so I have noted what we *think* we should use next time. Either way, it was yummy!

Sausage, Sage and Onion Stuffing
(makes 6 cups)

1T vegetable oil
1/2lb pork sausage
300g coarse bread crumbs (we used 300g and it was a bit much)
3/4T salt
1/2t fresh ground pepper
1C diced onion
1/2C diced mushrooms
1/2C diced celery
1/3C fresh chopped sage
1.5T dried sage
1 sprig chopped rosemary
1C chicken stock
2 eggs, beaten
1/3C butter

Combine bread, herbs, salt and pepper, stock and eggs in a bowl. Saute onion, celery and mushrooms in oil and butter until soft. Add sausage and brown. Add sausage mixture to bowl and toss well. Spoon into a lightly greased baking dish. Cover and bake for 40 minutes at 325F. (Apparently you can also stuff the bird with this just bake it for 20 minutes first, then stuff the bird with it.)

Daily Unadventures in Cooking » casserole

Roasted Squash, Hazelnut, Kale and Goat Cheese Lasagna Recipe

Sausage and Sage Stuffing Recipe