And yet again we have another pumpkin dish! What a surprise.. Pumpkin season is in full-effect! And we are only half-way through September! Pretty soon the thought of pumpkin is going to make us ill. But until then, bring on the pumpkin glory!
I created this recipe in a dream.. Seriously. I wanted to combine the right flavor profiles and make this the ultimate comforting dish. Better yet, it’s HEALTHY! Say what?!
This dish just happens to be approved for the program I am doing.. And it’s totally grain-free! It’s a win/win in my book. I hope you try this out and enjoy. Please post pictures and hashtag #thewholesomefoodie so I can see your creations!
T
Ingredients:
- 1 medium sugar pumpkin
- 1, 12 oz. container part-skim or whole ricotta
- 1 bag organic frozen spinach, cooked according to bag directions and drained
- 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
- 1, 8 oz. block part-skin mozzarella or Gruyère cheese, shredded
- 1 large white onion, caramelized (you can learn how to caramelize onions here!
- 2 teaspoons sea salt, used throughout the recipe
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- Black pepper
Sage-Shallot Reduction
This was inspired from Emeril’s recipe which can be found here. Instead of cornstarch, I used 1/2 teaspoon of arrowroot powder. *Be sure to have the ingredients found on this link on hand for the recipe!*** MAKE AND PREP BEFORE COOKING THIS RECIPE!***
Process:
(preheat oven to 425°)
1. With a large butcher knife (very carefully), slice pumpkin lengthwise into 1/4-1/3 inch chunks. Cut out seeds and slime and aside cleaned pieces of pumpkin. You can eat the skins of a sugar pumpkin!
2. Set pumpkin on a large baking sheet and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with some cinnamon and salt. Roast for about 20 minutes until just fork tender.
3. In a medium-large bowl, mix together ricotta cheese, canned pumpkin, 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt, 5 turns of black pepper, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of nutmeg.
4. Take out pumpkin slices and set aside to cool.
5. Prepare onions and spinach according to the directions above.
6. It’s time to start arranging your lasagna! I used a Le-Creuset round dutch oven, but you could also use a square 9×9″ lasagna pan.
(I got really creative with how I arranged the pumpkin..)
7. Add a bit of olive oil to the bottom of your pan. Add pumpkin and arrange however it fits. It’s not going to be like a traditional lasagna, so get that out of your head. As long as you have layers, you’re fine!
8. Add pumpkin ricotta, spinach, caramelized onions, reduction sauce, and mozzarella in whatever order you desire.
9. Once lasagna is assembled, bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes until golden and bubbly. Serve with extra reduction sauce if you wish!
