Serves 8
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion, very thinly sliced
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into planks about ½” thick
- 1 tablespoon blood orange infused olive oil
- 1 carton whole milk ricotta
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons unsalted butter)
- 1 bunch fresh sage leaves
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- ¾ cup parmesan cheese, shredded or shaved
- 1½ cups heavy cream
- Fresh lasagna noodles or one box of no boil lasagna noodles
Directions
Caramelize the onions. Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Toss in the thinly sliced onions and season with salt and pepper. Once the onions begin sizzling turn the heat down to medium low and let them caramelize in the pan, stirring every so often until they are very soft and golden. This can take 45 minutes to an hour. Once they are caramelized, turn up the heat to medium high and add the balsamic and maple syrup stirring until the liquids reduce and become thick and syrupy.
In the meantime, roast the squash. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Rub the squash down with the orange olive oil and place in a single layer on a sheet pan. Season with salt and pepper and roast in the preheated oven for about 35 minutes, turning once, until soft and just beginning to brown. Set aside.
As the squash are roasting and the onions are caramelizing you can make the brown butter ricotta. Heat a nonreactive pan over medium high heat. Add the stick of butter and let it melt, swirling frequently. The butter will foam up. As the foam subsides brown bits will start to form on the bottom. Quickly add in the fresh sage leaves and let them fry for about 30 seconds. Strain them out on to a paper towel and remove the butter from the heat. It should be a nice hazelnut color and smell nutty and rich. Let it cool slightly and then add it to a bowl with the ricotta cheese and whisk to combine. Crush most of the fried sage leaves leaving a few of the prettiest ones for garnish. Set the ricotta and the sage leaves aside.
Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Pour ½ cup of the fresh cream on the bottom of a 9×6 baking dish. Line the bottom with one layer of the lasagna noodles. Cover with a single layer of the squash planks trimming them as needed so they make an even, snug layer. Top the squash with about 5 nice dollops of the brown butter ricotta mixture (about ½ of the mixture). Top the ricotta with half of the caramelized onions. Cover with a cup of mozzarella and ¼ cup of parmesan. Sprinkle with half of the crushed, fried sage leaves. Top with ½ cup of fresh cream. Repeat the layer. Top with a third layer of the noodles and then cover this layer of noodles with the last cup of mozzarella and ¼ cup of parmesan and the fried sage leaves you kept whole as garnish.
Place the prepared lasagna in the middle rack of the oven on a sheet pan and bake for 40-50 minutes until bubbly and melted with slight browning of the cheese on top.