Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna Rolls
This lasagna recipe is stuffed with a tasty spinach and ricotta filling and slathered with a brown butter Parmesan butternut squash sauce. Top it off with a sprinkle of mozzarella, fresh herbs, and toasted walnuts for the perfect fall and winter season comfort food.
Servings: 12 rolls
Ingredients
Spinach Lasagna Rolls
- 12 lasagna noodles (whole wheat, brown rice, or regular)
- 15 oz part skim or fat free ricotta (or almond milk ricotta)
- 10 oz fresh spinach, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 3 Tbsp grated Parmesan
- 1 large egg
- 2 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
- 1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp cracked black pepper
- ⅔ c part-skim mozzarella cheese
Brown Butter Parmesan Butternut Squash Sauce
- 1 lb butternut squash, cubed
- ½ Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp cracked black pepper
- ½ red onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ¾ c low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth (add more if desired)
- 2 Tbsp grated Parmesan
- 1 tsp rubbed sage
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 Tbsp coconut sugar or brown sugar
- ¼ c walnuts, chopped, toasted
Instructions
Brown Butter Parmesan Butternut Squash Sauce
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Fresh butternut squash: Peel the squash and cut into halves. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds. Cut into half rings and then cube. Toss the squash cubes with ½ tablespoon olive oil and salt and pepper. Spread the squash out on a baking sheet and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a fork goes through the squash cleanly. Remove from the oven and set aside. Frozen butternut squash: Thaw the squash. Toss thawed squash with ½ tablespoon olive oil and salt and pepper. Spread the squash out on a baking sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until a fork goes through the squash cleanly. Remove from the oven and set aside.
- Lightly mist a medium frying pan with cooking spray. Bring to medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic to the warm pan and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the onions become fragrant. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl.
- In the same frying pan, add butter. Bring the pan to medium heat and cook the butter, stirring frequently, for 5 to 8 minutes. The butter should turn a golden brown color and give off a slightly nutty flavor when it is done browning. Remove from heat and stir in coconut sugar or brown sugar.
- Transfer the butternut squash, onion, garlic, and brown butter-sugar mixture to a food processor or blender. Add vegetable broth, Parmesan cheese, sage, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Blend for 2 to 3 minutes, or until smooth, pausing every 30 to 45 seconds to scrape the sides. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Thin to desired consistency with additional broth or water, if desired. This sauce is a little thicker in consistency.
- Spread roughly half of the sauce into the bottom of a large 9"x13" baking dish or large casserole dish. Reserve remaining half for topping the lasagna.
Spinach Lasagna Rolls
- While the squash cooks, bring a large stock pot of water to a boil. Add the lasagna noodles to the pot and cook according to package directions (most recommend about 10 minutes). Drain and remove the noodles carefully.
- Once the squash is baked, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F.
- While the noodles cook, make the spinach filling. Coarsely chop the spinach and pat dry with a paper towel to remove moisture. Mince the garlic cloves and add to a large mixing bowl, along with the dried spinach. Add the ricotta, Parmesan, egg, basil, parsley, salt and pepper and mix well to fully incorporate. Cover and refrigerate until the noodles are cooked.
- Working with one noodle at a time, spoon in 2 to 3 tablespoons of filling onto the lasagna noodle. Roll up the noodles and place seam side down in the sauce-coated baking dish. Repeat until either all of the noodles are used or you run out of filling (we usually run out of noodles first).
- Ladle the remaining butternut squash sauce over the lasagna and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Cover the baking dish with foil. Bake the lasagna rolls for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake uncovered another 7 to 10 minutes.
- As the lasagna finishes in the oven, add the chopped walnuts to a dry pan and toast over medium-high heat for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the nuts are lightly toasted. Remove from the oven and top with fresh parsley, basil, sage and toasted walnuts. Enjoy!