Butternut Squash & Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups with Feta
Yield: 8-9 roll-ups
Ingredients
1 small butternut squash, diced (~2 pound squash)
1 tablespoon olive oil + extra for drizzling
Salt & Black pepper (you will be using these throughout the recipe so just have them nearby!)
8 oz. lasagna noodles (half of a 16 oz. box)
1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Pinch of ground nutmeg
2 cups chopped spinach
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
Procedure
1. Roast the squash: Preheat oven to 425°F. Combine diced butternut squash with the olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper in a mixing bowl. Place squash on a parchment-lined baking sheet – be sure not to overcrowd the baking sheet, you want each piece of squash to lay flat on the baking sheet, not overlap, so they get nice and caramelized. Bake for 15 minutes, remove from oven and flip squash, rotate pan and return to oven to bake for another 15 minutes.
**When squash comes out of the oven, lower oven temperature to 375°F.
2. While squash is roasting, fill a large pot of water to boil for lasagna noodles. Once water is boiling, add a fat pinch of salt to the water. Cook the noodles for ~8-10 minutes – you want them to remain al dente (a bit underdone with some “bite” to them) because they will continue to cook in the oven, and want them to remain sturdy enough for filling and rolling. Be sure to stir noodles with tongs as they cook to prevent them from sticking together.
3. While the squash & noodles are cooking, prepare the ricotta cheese mixture. Combine the ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup of the parmesan cheese (reserve the other 1/4 cup for topping), garlic powder, oregano, nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
4. When lasagna noodles are done cooking, remove from the pot one by one with tongs and lay flat on a large plate or tray. Very lightly drizzle olive oil on each noodle to prevent them from getting sticky. Reserve the water in the pot.
5. Add the chopped spinach to the pasta water in the large pot for 15 seconds. You don’t need to have the stove on here as the water will still be plenty hot to just quickly wilt the spinach. Remove the spinach from the pot with a slotted spoon. Combine the cooked spinach with the roasted butternut squash in a bowl.
6. Put a light coating of olive oil on the bottom of a baking dish you will use to bake the lasagna roll-ups. I used a 2 qt. baking dish.
7. Working with one lasagna noodle at a time, spread ~2 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture onto the noodle – leave a little space at each end of the noodle to make rolling easier. Then, spoon on ~1 tablespoon of the squash + spinach mixture. Roll the noodle from one end to the other – you don’t need to roll too tightly. Place the roll-up seam side down in the baking dish. Repeat with all remaining noodles. You want the roll-ups to be pretty tightly packed in the dish to help them stay together.
8. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese over the top of the roll-ups, then top with the crumbled feta cheese.
9. Bake uncovered for ~20 minutes. Let rest for a few minutes before serving & enjoy!
