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Roasted Garlic Butternut Squash Lasagna Roll-ups with Sweet Italian Sausage and Pesto Cream Sauce

Servings 4
Author Laura Doerr

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

  1. See notes section for squash and garlic tips, you'll need your roasted garlic and cooked squash done first. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

  2. 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. 

  3. 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

  1. 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

  1. 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.

  2. 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.