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Creative Lasagnas

Last night I made butternut squash lasagna using a recipe that I found on cookinglight.com (lasagna noodles, normal sauce & cheese mixture, butternut squash, spinach & onions). It was really good!
I've never made lasagna before so this has opened up a whole new world, potentially. What else can I put between those lasagna noodles?

19 Comments:

I often make a seafood rendition. I make beshamela sauce and I saute shrimp, scallops and some crab meat. It is very light and fresh. use fresh herbs.

I also make a mexican flavor one for when I have kids over. I make some seasoned ground beef (cumin/ancho chili powder/black pepper), then I layer with sour cream or crema (which amazingly bakes nice and firm) and a mix of cheddar and monterey jack cheeses, olives and some chuncky salsa.

I do a veggie lasagne for luncheons. Saute some zuchinni, spinach and mushrooms, you can do beshamela and or ricotta for this one. You can change up the cheeses too. Add some gruyere or whatever you really enjoy.

lasagne is soooo versatile! just about anything that appeals to you will work, our favorite is chunks of garlic chicken and lots of mushrooms. I prefer veggies, I just make sure to precook everything and drain well so things dont get soggy.

I made a really addicting ,a href="http://www.bitchincamero.com/mel/2008/10/autumn-turkey-pumpkin-lasagna/">Turkey Pumpkin Lasagna in the fall. I loooooooooove it. I'm addicted to all Thanksgiving ingredients.

Aw man! ruined my link. Here it is again: Turkey Pumpkin Lasagna

One of the things you can do is substitute slices of eggplant or zucchini for the noodles, too.

ALthough I perfer traditional meat and cheese lasagna, I occasionally make it with spinach and portabella mushrooms in place of the meat. Still include cheese with it, and roasted red peppers sometimes get added

@lemons - do you salt the veggies or precook/drain them for when you sub them in for noodles?

Made a mushroom ragu lasagna the other night. used no boil pasta for the first time, because I saw it used on a cooking show. Didn't use ricotta, but bechamel and lots of grated cheese in between the layers. Came amazing!

You cook them when you sub. Like eggplant you should saute or fry. If not they give forth water and that is not what you want.

lots of fun ideas, thanks!

I saw rachel ray make a mexican lasagna with mexican ingredients and tortillas instead of noodles--sort-of like Jerzees suggestion I guess? Looked pretty darn tasty! nom nom nom

This fabulous twist on classic lasagna is perfect for cold weather months when hearty ingredients are bountiful. This recipe uses butternut squash, kale, leeks, sweet potatoes and a classic French Mother sauce called "Sauce Bechamel."

http://www.howcast.com/videos/69167-Video-Recipe-Fall-Winter-Lasagna

sometimes i substitute goat cheese for the ricotta and make a tomato/bechamel combo, and if it's during the summer time, i place fresh tomatoes on top with grated parmigianno .... it's a little lighter than the traditional lasagna (which i also love and make) or add some sauteed spinach in between the layers (i always use fresh pasta when i can, or the no boil sheets) you can't go wrong with any kind of lasagna!

Flat Branch, the microbrewery in Columbia, MO, had a fantastic white lasagna on the menu a few years back, a white lasagna with artichoke. This recipe looks to be relatively similar:
http://recipes.epicurean.com/recipe/23182/artichoke-lasagna.html

I've been making the Green Lasagna recipe from the original Silver Palate cookbook for about 15-20 years when I'm in the mood for a creamy non-red sauce lasagna - it's great, and my guests have always loved it:

Silver Palate Green Lasagna

3 tablespoons salt, plus additional to taste

3//4 pound fresh spinach pasta, uncut, about 3 sheets

2- 10 oz packages frozen chopped spinach, defrosted

1 cup Ricotta cheese

1/3 cup grated imported Parmesan cheese

freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/2 cup Basil puree (7 cups washed & dried fresh basil pureed with 3 tablespoons or more of olive oil - I've used Buitoni refrigerated basil pesto from the supermarket a few times and and it turned out fine, just scrape the extra olive oil off the top)

1 Montrachet cheese or other soft chevre, about 11 ounces

3 tablespoons heavy cream

1 1/2 cups medium bechamel sauce

Bring 4 quarts water to a boil in a large pot. Stir in 2 tablespoons salt and cook the sheets of spinach pasta, one at a time; each will be done in 3 minutes or so. Do not overcook the pasta. As each sheet is done, transfer it immediately to a large bowl or sink full of cold water.

Bring 2 quarts water to a boil in another pan. Add 1 tablespoon salt and stir in the defrosted spinach. Cook for 1 minute, drain immediately, and transfer spinach to another bowl of cold water.

Mix ricotta and 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan together in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

In another bowl, cream together the basil puree, three-quarters of the goat cheese, and the heavy cream. Set aside.

Drain spinach and squeeze as much water as possible out of it with your hands. Stir spinach into the ricotta mixture and correct seasoning; you may need more pepper or Parmesan; you will probably not need more salt.

Drain the sheets of pasta, cut them lengthwise into 2-inch-wide strips and pat thoroughly dry on paper towels.

Preheat over to 375F.

Smear one third of the bechamel evenly over the bottom of a baking dish 9 by 13 inches. Arrange about one third of the pasta strips over the bechamel, trimming them as necessary to make an exact fit. Spread all of the spinach and ricotta mixture evenly over the pasta strips, being sure to cover the pasta completely to the edges. Cut a second layer of pasta strips and arrange them over the spinach. Spread half of remaining bechamel over the second layer of pasta and spread all of the basil and goat cheese mixture over the bechamel. Top this with the final layer, again trimming and fitting the strips. Spread the remaining bechamel evenly over the top layer of pasta and crumble remaining goat cheese over the bechamel. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese.

Set baking dish in upper third of oven. Bake the lasagna for 10 to 15 minutes, or until it is bubbling and top is lightly browned. (The short baking time is perfectly adequate for this light, fresh lasagna; do not overcook it.) Serve immediately.

My friend's girlfriend back in college was Italian, as in her Dad was directly from Italy. She would make her lasagna basically regular, but she also added pepperoni, shaved ham, and peas throughout. As the pièce de résistance, she would quarter hard boiled eggs and put one piece in the middle of every slice, then cover with more regular stuff and bake. It was kind of tasty to have a piece of egg in the middle of your lasagna.

We do a turkey herbed lasagna with a bechamel sauce with pecorino, cottage cheese and tarragon. It is a real crowd pleaser and freezes well.

I make this white lasagna with spinach and almonds... I also make it in a vegan/non-dairy version that tastes just as good.

I once also made a butternut squash lasagna with a basil bechamel from Giada DeLaunrentiis - super delicious.

Madelyn
KarmaFreeCooking

@MMinNYC That sounds amazing! I've been looking for a freezer-stocking project for this weekend, and this sounds perfect! As an added bonus, I got pasta rollers for my KitchenAid this weekend, so it also gives me a chance to use them!

Any tips other than the ones you gave already? Have you tried freezing it?

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