Roasted Garlic Butternut Squash Lasagna Roll-ups with Sweet Italian Sausage and Pesto Cream Sauce
Yum yum yum! This is one of my new favorite pasta dishes. My inspiration for this came from a Lean Cuisine meal I had for lunch, butternut squash ravioli. I was so surprised how much I liked it I knew I could make a better version. I don’t cook with squash often but I do really like it. This is a great way to use up extra squash or even frozen squash. A little tip…I don’t roast mine in the oven, I microwave it! Depending on the size it only takes about 10-15 minutes, quick and easy! In some stores you can even find frozen squash that just steams in the bag, this would work great too and be a little less work!
Fresh roasted garlic adds such a nice sweet burst of flavor to the squash…I could eat the puree of garlic and squash as is! I used sweet Italian turkey sausage in this recipe, but you could use Italian pork sausage as well, or leave it out all together for a vegetarian meal. A little prepared pesto, cream, and fresh Parmesan and you have a luscious cream sauce to pour over the top, so good!
See my tips in the recipe notes about microwaving squash and oven roasting garlic.
Roasted Garlic Butternut Squash Lasagna Roll-ups with Sweet Italian Sausage and Pesto Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 8 lasagna noodles
- 3 links sweet or spicy Italian turkey sausage about 1 lb.
- olive oil
- 1/3 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese for assembly/topping
For the squash filling
- 1 1/2 cups butternut squash cooked
- 1 bulb roasted garlic
- 1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup ricotta cheese
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- dash black pepper
For the pesto cream sauce
- 1/3 cup prepared basil pesto
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
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See notes section for squash and garlic tips, you'll need your roasted garlic and cooked squash done first. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
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Bring large pot of water to a boil, cook lasagna noodles 1 minute less than directions on packaging, do not over-cook. Reserve a cup of pasta water before draining. Add a drizzle of olive oil to the water to prevent noodles from sticking. Drain and set aside, drizzle with more olive oil to prevent sticking. Brown turkey sausage, and set aside.
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In a food processor or blender combine the cooked squash, and the rest of the filling ingredients. Blend until smooth. Taste for seasoning. If it seems too thick, add splash more milk, and salt and pepper to taste.
For the pesto cream sauce
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In a saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, milk, cream, and pesto. Bring to a slight boil, reduce heat to low. Stir in grated parm and simmer for about 10 minutes on low. Add in some of the reserved pasta water if needed. Remove from heat while you assemble the roll-ups. Salt and pepper to taste.
Assembly
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Lay each lasagna noodle on a flat surface. Spread blended squash mixture evenly over each noodle. Sprinkle ground sausage over the top. Sprinkle with a little Parmesan cheese. Roll each noodle up tightly.
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Pour about 1/3 of the pesto sauce into the bottom of an oven safe baking dish. Lay the lasagna roll-ups in the baking pan, seam side down. Pour remaining pesto cream sauce over the roll-ups. Sprinkle with remaining parm, cover with foil. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Recipe Notes
For the squash: you can buy 'steam in a bag' squash to save time, or roast your squash in the oven. I like to microwave mine. Cut in half horizontally, remove seeds, place face down in microwave safe dish and 1 inch of water. Cook for about 15 minutes checking every 5 minutes, until soft.
Roasted garlic: leave bulb whole together, remove as much outer papery shell as possible. Cut off top (not the part holding the bulb together), about 1/2 inch, exposing the garlic cloves. Place on tin foil on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, wrap in foil. Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. Cool enough to handle. Squeeze garlic out of the shells.
8 Comments
ruth
This turned out so great! I will absolutely be making this again. It’s not easy to find very healthy recipes that taste this good. Easy recipe to follow and worth the cook time.
Laura Doerr
Thank you! I agree, worth the prep and cook time! I often make it on a Sunday so I have more time, but a nice trick is to make the squash filling and cooked sausage ahead of time and stock it in the freezer. Then just make fresh pasta and sauce when you’re ready!
Kayla Satterlund
I was given this recipe by my sister in law (Ruth) after she raved about it. Honestly, the most delicious fall meal you could ask for! I have made similar fall lasagnas, but the pesto cream sauce is unbelievable and adds so much. Will definitely add this to the recipes to make again.
Laura Doerr
Yay! So glad you liked it! Thanks for making!
Anna G Woodworth
The men in my life aren’t fans of pesto or butternut squash, but they both loved this dish! It really is a great combo of flavors. I added a little motz to the roll ups and they held together so well. I have one roll up left and I’m going to savor it!
Laura Doerr
That’s wonderful, so happy to hear that! I’m working on a one-skillet version of this recipe too. Thank so much for leaving a note!
Megan
Can you use pumpkin in place of the butternut squash?
Laura Doerr
I have never tried that, but let me know if you do!