Butternut Squash and Hazelnut Lasagne

Before I get into the nitty gritty of tonight's meal, may I just sing the virtues of the butternut squash a little more? I've talked about it being roasted and cooked in cubes (tonight's recipe was also cooked in cubes). Did you know also that butternut squash makes killer pumpkin pies? Really! It tastes better and has better consistency in pies than say the large pumpkins you use for carving. I have now used up almost all the butternut squash in my pantry. Next week, I plan to scour the Farmer's Market for more butternut squash because I am dreaming of making pumpkin (aka butternut squash) flan and pumpkin chocolate cheesecake. Plus I hope to make a butternut squash bisque (which, by the way, I am still searching for the ultimate butternut squash bisque recipe so if you happen to have one that isn't too runny and has the perfect blend of spices, please, let me know!). In case you have never seen a butternut squash peeled and cut open, here are two pictures. The first one is with seeds, the second is after it has had the seeds removed.

Tonight's meal was time intensive. The recipe was from Epicurious. I did a few things differently, some I think were good choices, some weren't. The recipe is basically 4 parts you assemble (not unlike most lasagne's): the filling (squash and hazelnuts among other things), the sauce (a white sauce, also known as a bechamel sauce), the noodles, and the cheese. A quick recap of what I did that varied from the recipe. For the filling, I was sure I had hazelnuts so I didn't get any at the store on Monday. Upon looking, I did in fact have hazelnuts. Just not the 1 c that was called for; I only had about 1/4 c. Next time, I will use a full cup. I love the flavor of hazelnuts and suspect the combination of hazelnuts and squash is wonderful. The recipe calls for the hazelnuts to be toasted. To do that, just put the nuts in a 375 degrees oven and cook for about 6 - 10 minutes. Remove, place in a dish towel, and vigorously roll/rub to get the skins off. It's ok if not all the skins come off. The recipe also called for the no-cook noodles. I had the other kind (the old fashioned, cook first kind) on hand, so I cooked the noodles and reduced the baking time to 15 minutes without covering the dish at all. The cheese was no different.

Where I had my difficulties with the recipe was the white sauce. I have only started making sauces in the past 6 months so I am still figuring the whole sauce thing out. I suspect (although I am not 100% sure) my problem was using skim milk instead of whole milk. I think skim milk takes longer to boil and thicken than whole milk because what was supposed to take 10 minutes took closer to forever (or at least 20 minutes). It turned out fine, just took a long time. I found myself cursing the recipe as I stirred and stirred and stirred, telling myself this better be darn good if I was going to spend this long of a time making it.

The final result? Curtis and I loved it, although I was missing the hazelnuts. J ate the squash and a little noodles. M? Well, her response was, "Mommy, something's wrong with this." Hmm...I think I struck out with her!