I haven’t written a blog for a little while because I have been writing and in the process of publishing a cookbook. This is a book I wrote many years ago and I decided to republish it adding some new recipes all enhanced by a professionally taken photographs.
Im in the process of starting a second book, and the recipe that follows is one that I developed recently and I thought I would like to share it with you
We are in the season of pumpkins and squash and being a lover of butternut squash, I had a inkling to give it a whirl in a lasagne dish. Looking to make this firm family favourite into something quite special, I opted for ground turkey instead of beef. Excellent served with a lovely tossed salad and garlic bread.
I would highly recommend buying fresh lasagne noodles (most supermarkets now sell them). It saves a great deal of time. I remember in the good ol’days we used to have to boil the noodles first, strain, run cold water over them and then you were ready to get started. Buying freshly made noodles saves a great deal of time. I hope you enjoy this dish and your comments are very appreciated. Please take the time to subscribe to my blog by placing your email address in the subscription box.
INGREDIENTS
3 tbsp olive oil
1 finely chopped red onion, 1 finely chopped carrot, 1 finely chopped red chilli, 1 cup of sliced mushrooms, 3 garlic cloves
1 Roasted Butternut Squash (after roasting scoop out the flesh)
1 cup ricotta Cheese, 1 bag spinach, 2 cups grated mozzarella
2 lbs Ground Turkey (mince)
3 ozs tomato paste, 15 ozs chopped tomatoes, 3ozs red wine, 1 vegetable stock cube, 1 tbsp mixed herbs, 1 bay leaf, sea salt & pepper
METHOD
Heat olive oil in a large frying pan. Add onion, carrot, chilli & mushrooms and sauce for 10 minutes. Add the turkey and gently brown mixing the vegetables through the meat. Once brown add the tomato paste and combine into meat mixture. Add tomatoes, red wine, herbs, bay leaf, vegetable stock cube, season with sea salt & pepper to taste. Saute for 20 minutes.
CHEESE SAUCE
2 ozs. butter, 3 tbsp plain flour (or tapioca starch), 16 ozs milk, 1 cup cheddar cheese
Melt butter in a sauce pan. Add flour and whisk into butter. Slowly add milk and continue to whisk on a medium heat. Once the milk thickens up add the cheese. This sauce you will use in the middle of the layers of lasagne and to top it.
Start by using a deep oven proof dish (8″X 12″) brush dish with olive oil. Put your first layer of lasagne noodles. Cover this with 1/2 the meat mixture, cover that with fresh spinach leaves, sprinkle a handful of mozzarella, drizzle some of the cheese sauce. Mix half the butternut squash with the ricotta cheese. Put another layer of noodles. Add the other half meat mixture, then top with ricotta and squash mixture (spread evenly over meat) add some more fresh spinach leaves, mozzarella, drizzle of cheese sauce, top with another layer of noodles, spread the remainder of squash and cover with spinach, then drizzle with cheese sauce, add another layer of noodles (be sure to press layers down. Top the last layer with the rest of the cheese sauce. I like to slice a tomato and add that to the top and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Cover with foil
Bake in a preheated oven – 350F 180C Gas Mark 4 and bake 45 mins to one hour (until top is nicely browned. Remove foil 15 minutes before cooking is finished. If you would like to see a video of me constructing this dish, go to www.facebook.com/marypremiercru.
Why not visit Mary’s Kitchen for more delicious recipes on www.facebook.com/marypremiercru or Instagram on Mary_premiercru.
Your comments are always welcome. Please take a moment and subscribe to my blog by adding your email address in subscription box.
If you are enjoying my Blogs, please follow and put a ‘like’ on my Facebook Page – www.facebook.com/Marypremiercru/ – “Mary’s Kitchen”. Please subscribe after reading my blog by entering your email address in the subscription area at the end or side of this blog. You will then receive notification when I have posted again. You can also follow my instructional videos on You Tube – Mary PremierCru (again, please subscribe if you enjoy them).
Thank you for stopping by.
Mary Joan Calder
You must be logged in to post a comment.