Cheesy Pumpkin Lasagna
What’s fall without pumpkin?! I really do love pumpkin but as I get older I do believe there’s such a thing as too much pumpkin. I’m not as compelled to buy pumpkin everything when I enter Trader Joes, which is saying a lot for me. That being said, it deserves a place and when it’s good, it’s SO very good. This lasagna is just that. The pumpkin creates a velvety sauce and combined with fresh mozzarella and burrata… it’s so delcious!
Entertaining tips:
Make the sauce the day before. Store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use.
Build the lasagna the morning of your party. Cove and store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake.
Having a big group or just love leftovers. Double the recipe!
Recipe:serves 6-8
Ingredients:
9oz oven ready lasagna
15 oz can pumpkin puree
1/2 sweet onion
1 whole garlic clove
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
1 tsp salt
3 cups vegetable broth
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb sweet Italian sausage
12 oz fresh mozerella
4 balls burrata
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Slice the top off of the whole garlic. Drizzle the top with 1 tsp olive oil and a pinch of salt. Wrap loosely in tin foil and place on baking sheet.
Roughly chop 1/2 sweet onion and add to the baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt and black pepper.
Place baking sheet with garlic and onion in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until onions are caramelized and garlic is soft.
While the onions and garlic are cooking, make the sausage. One medium heat, brown and crumble the sausage in a large pan. Once done, remove from heat and set aside.
When onions and garlic are done remove from oven and let cool enough to handle.
Reduce oven to 375 degrees.
In a food processor, add pumpkin purée, brown sugar, 1 tsp salt, red chili flakes, and vegetable stock. Add cooked onions and roasted garlic. *Squeeze the garlic at the bottom to extract the roasted cloves.
Blend on low until combined. This does not have to be super smooth, whatever you prefer is perfect!
Pour puree into Italian sausage and stir to combine.
Time to start building the lasagna. In a greased 9x13 baking dish, add 1 cup of sauce to the bottom and spread evenly. Add 1 layer of lasagna noodles, for me, that was 3 sheets.
Add another cup of sauce on top of noodles. Tear 4 oz fresh mozzarella and 1 ball of burrata and spend spread across sauce.
Sprinkle with 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.
Repeat steps 11-13 until the sauce and cheese is gone. I had a couple sheets of lasagna left. This recipe is very forgiving so build it how you want! That’s the best part about lasagna!
Place foil over baking dish and put in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes.
Remove foil from baking dish and bake for another 10 minutes, until golden brown and bubbling on top.
*Tip: read the instructions on whatever type of lasagna noodle you use to make sure that timing is similar.
