Butternut Squash & Swiss Chard White Lasagna

Ingredients:
1 medium to large butternut squash, sliced lengthwise and seeds removed
1/4 cup Parmesan
1 lb lasagna noodles
olive oil

for the filling:
1 large bunch Swiss chard, chopped
1 medium onion, diced
15 oz ricotta cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg


for the sauce:
3 cups milk
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt
white pepper




Directions:
Preheat oven to 400. Brush the butternut squash with the additional olive oil. Place cut side down on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until fork tender. Allow to cool slightly. Scoop out the insides. Mash. It should yield about 3 1/2 to 4 cups of squash. Set aside.


Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to package instructions. Drain and arrange in a single layer on baking sheets until ready for use.

For the filling: Heat the oil in a large skillet. Saute the onion until fragrant, then add the chard and sage. Saute until the chard is soft. Allow to cool slightly then combine with the ricotta, nutmeg, salt, pepper and paprika.



For the sauce: In a medium pan, melt the butter. Add the flour along with a sprinkle of salt and pepper, garlic and whisk until smooth. Add the milk and whisk together until slightly thickened. Stir in Parmesan.

To assemble: Preheat oven to 375. Spread some sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Top with noodles then layer with a layer of squash then the chard-ricotta mixture and drizzle with sauce.



Repeat until the pan is full, then top with a final layer of noodle, the remaining sauce and Parmesan.



Bake covered for 30-40 minutes or until bubbly. Allow to sit about 5 minutes before slicing and serving.



Spring this recipe!

My thoughts:

I had never made a non-tomato based lasagna until this one but it turned out really well! I just sort of made it up as I went along to use up some Swiss chard I didn't have earmarked for anything special and a butternut squash I've had for ages but the flavors came together wonderfully. It is a great way to use seasonal ingredients in different way than they are normally found. It also freezes well.



Note: To cut down on some of the prep time you could roast the squash the night before and just let it warm up a bit while you make the sauce before spreading. However, the squash roasting is pretty hands off so it is easy to do that while you are making the cheese mixture.

I don't buy into the whole "no boil" lasagna noodles are just as good as the regular kind propaganda at all. It doesn't take that long to boil them and you will be in the kitchen anyway so why not just boil the noodles? I have had success freezing boiled lasagna and large shell shaped pasta for future use. I just freeze them in a single layer before transferring them to a freezer container

Swiss Chard, Beef, Shrimp and Tofu Summer Rolls

Ingredients:

Beef:

3/4 pound thinly sliced beef, cut into 3-4 inch strips
1/4 pound mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons oil

Beef Marinade:

3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon chili paste
1/2 teaspoon chili sauce (Sriracha or other red hot sauce)



Greens:

1 pound Swiss chard
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar
1/4 cup water


Tofu:

1/2 pound firm or extra firm tofu
salt


Rolls:

12 shrimp, boiled peeled and butterflied (sliced open lengthwise)
6 rice paper wrappers*
1/2 pound rice stick noodles
Thai or Vietnamese basil (optional)



Directions:

First, mix marinade ingredients in a small bowl and marinate beef in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Saute mushrooms in oil over high heat. Add beef and stir fry until beef is cooked and sauce has thickened (about 5 - 10 minutes). Cover and remove from heat. Set aside. While the beef is marinating, you can prepare the tofu by cutting it into 1/2 inch slices. Create a stack of them sprinkling salt on each slice. Wrap the stack of tofu slices in a towel and rest a heavy pan on top of the stack for 15 minutes to remove extra water. Remove tofu from towel and cut lengthwise into thin strips.Then, boil rice stick noodles for 5 minutes and blanch in cold water. Cut noodles into bite-sized pieces. Then the greens, tear the Swiss chard into strips. In a large pot with a cover, boil the water and add chard. Cook about 3-5 minutes until chard is tender. Pour out the water and add soy sauce and vinegar


Fill a wide bowl or pot with warm water. Each rice paper wrapper must be soaked individually. For each roll, soak a wrapper until pliable and soft. Remove the wrapper and spread out on a clean surface. Add a 1/4 cup noodles towards the middle of the wrapper. Add a portion of the greens, a portion of the meat, 2 pieces of tofu, 2 shrimp, and basil (if using). Fold the rice paper from both sides in towards the middle, then lift the end closest to you and roll away from you, grabbing all of the filling, and roll until the spring roll is closed. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Serve at room temperature.

*Sometimes labeled spring roll wrappers. Not to be confused with refrigerated egg roll wrappers, these are not refrigerated and are round, brittle and translucent.


Yield: 6 rolls

My thoughts:

These are some of my favorite things to order at a Vietnamese restaurant. Not exactly the same thing as spring rolls, which are fried, summer rolls are served at room temperature and are not cooked at all once assembled. Lots of times you see these as an appetizer, but my husband made them for us for dinner. They are complete meal unto themselves although you might need to eat more than one to fill up. They are really light tasting and rather healthy.