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Jan. 10th, 2010 06:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madbakerTwelfth Night is always a bit odd as it's a cross between a regular SCA coronation, a series of cocktail parties, and a con. This year's was even odder for me because school started up again that day. Concord's not that far, so I drove directly from school and got there about 6:15 - missing the entire official event. I ate at the potluck, chatted with a few people, heard some fabulous epic poetry (and recited some from loaners), and went to bed. There were lots of people I normally enjoy talking to who I didn't get to see at all.
Sunday involved a bit more schmoozing, but mostly driving home and doing grocery shopping and laundry.
Oh well - while school looks like it is going to kick my butt for the next few months, classes will be done in April. I graduate in May. I am looking forward to re-surfacing.
In the meantime, this week's Resolution Recipe: Butternut Squash White Lasagna.
2 lbs butternut squash
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups cream
8 oz crumbled blue cheese
salt and pepper
pinch of nutmeg
7 oz lasagna noodles
(I used no-boil noodles and added 2 eggses)
1 cup ricotta
8 oz spinach, blanched and coarsely chopped
12 fresh sage leaves
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
Heat oven to 350. Cut off the ends of the squash, remove seeds, and peel halves from top to bottom with a sharp peeler. Cut the halves lengthwise into 1/4" thick slices. Brush a baking sheet with the olive oil, arrange squash in a single layer, and bake for 30-35 minutes until soft.
Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce to simmer and cook 3 minutes, stirring the cream occasionally so it doesn't boil over. (I failed at that.) Add 1/3 of the blue cheese and salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Remove from heat, cover, and reserve.
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook sheets 3 minutes or according to package instructions. Remove, drain, and reserve. Mix the remaining blue cheese, ricotta, and spinach. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Assemble lasagna in a 8x12" greased pan: place a sheet of pasta on the bottom, layer with 1/3 of the filling, then 1/3 of the squash. Repeat and end with a sheet of pasta (4 layers in all). Pour sauce evenly over lasagna, arrange sage leaves on top, and sprinkle with hazelnuts. Bake 35 minutes, until brown and heated through.
What worked: We both liked it and it was pretty as well. The contrast between the white sauce and the crunch of the hazelnuts (and the almost-crunch of the squash) was good, as was the flavor. I used no-boil noodles which are much easier, and I had to beat in 2 eggses into the ricotta for additional moisture as they indicate.
What didn't: The no-bake noodles need some sauce on the bottom; I used half of the white sauce but there really wasn't enough that way. Also, the spinach was a non-entity and the sage wasn't much better. I think I'd chop additional sage leaves into the ricotta, and maybe double the spinach as it shrinks by a huge amount when blanched.
Will I make it again? I won't go out of my way for it (my cholesterol levels couldn't handle it!) but it's a good use of butternut squash, and a different take on lasagna. So, yes.
What I'm reading: Jim Butcher, First Lord's Fury
Sunday involved a bit more schmoozing, but mostly driving home and doing grocery shopping and laundry.
Oh well - while school looks like it is going to kick my butt for the next few months, classes will be done in April. I graduate in May. I am looking forward to re-surfacing.
In the meantime, this week's Resolution Recipe: Butternut Squash White Lasagna.
2 lbs butternut squash
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups cream
8 oz crumbled blue cheese
salt and pepper
pinch of nutmeg
7 oz lasagna noodles
(I used no-boil noodles and added 2 eggses)
1 cup ricotta
8 oz spinach, blanched and coarsely chopped
12 fresh sage leaves
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
Heat oven to 350. Cut off the ends of the squash, remove seeds, and peel halves from top to bottom with a sharp peeler. Cut the halves lengthwise into 1/4" thick slices. Brush a baking sheet with the olive oil, arrange squash in a single layer, and bake for 30-35 minutes until soft.
Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce to simmer and cook 3 minutes, stirring the cream occasionally so it doesn't boil over. (I failed at that.) Add 1/3 of the blue cheese and salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Remove from heat, cover, and reserve.
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook sheets 3 minutes or according to package instructions. Remove, drain, and reserve. Mix the remaining blue cheese, ricotta, and spinach. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Assemble lasagna in a 8x12" greased pan: place a sheet of pasta on the bottom, layer with 1/3 of the filling, then 1/3 of the squash. Repeat and end with a sheet of pasta (4 layers in all). Pour sauce evenly over lasagna, arrange sage leaves on top, and sprinkle with hazelnuts. Bake 35 minutes, until brown and heated through.
What worked: We both liked it and it was pretty as well. The contrast between the white sauce and the crunch of the hazelnuts (and the almost-crunch of the squash) was good, as was the flavor. I used no-boil noodles which are much easier, and I had to beat in 2 eggses into the ricotta for additional moisture as they indicate.
What didn't: The no-bake noodles need some sauce on the bottom; I used half of the white sauce but there really wasn't enough that way. Also, the spinach was a non-entity and the sage wasn't much better. I think I'd chop additional sage leaves into the ricotta, and maybe double the spinach as it shrinks by a huge amount when blanched.
Will I make it again? I won't go out of my way for it (my cholesterol levels couldn't handle it!) but it's a good use of butternut squash, and a different take on lasagna. So, yes.
What I'm reading: Jim Butcher, First Lord's Fury
