Loving Seasonal Dishes - Butternut Squash Lasagna with Goat Cheese

There is a very quaint little gourmet country store in Millwood, VA that makes the most wonderful dishes using meat and seasonal veggies from local farmers. I stopped in there last week for lunch and tried their Butternut Squash Lasgna with Goat Cheese and it truly was love at first bite! It may not be the most low cal dish but it sure was good for my soul! I've been searching for a recipe ever since and I found one that I modified to remove the bacon (there was no meat in the one I had). So grab some local butternut squash from a farmers market if you can, try it and enjoy!

Roasted Butternut Squash Lasagna with Goat Cheese

1 1/2 cups smashed roasted butternut squash (see note)
8 ounces goat cheese
1/3 cup ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/4 tsp Kosher salt
1/8 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
3 cups marinara sauce (about 25 oz or so)
9 no-boil lasagna noodles
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a small bowl combine the goat cheese, ricotta cheese, egg, salt & pepper. Mix thoroughly. Set aside.

Prepare an 11x7 inch casserole dish with nonstick spray and add spread a couple spoonfuls of marinara sauce in the bottom. Put a layer of lasagna noodles over the sauce. Spread about 1/2 cup smashed squash over noodles, followed by 1/3 of the goat cheese mixture, 1/3 of the marinara sauce and 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella. Repeat layering two more times with remaining ingredients and top with remaining mozzarella cheese.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake, uncovered, for another 15 minutes until everything is bubbly, heated through, and the cheese begins to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and top with reserved bacon bits and fried sage. Allow to rest for about 10 minutes before slicing.

Makes about 6 servings.

Note:
To roast a butternut squash, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Slice the squash in half, discarding seeds from the center. At this point you can either place it face-up on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil or face-down in a casserole dish and fill the dish with about 1/2-inch of water. Bake for about 40-70 minutes, depending on the size of your squash. When it's done, it should easily pierce with a fork. Allow it to cool, then scrape the flesh from the skin, discarding the skin