Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna with Cauliflower Noodles

Let me give you the short story of this recipe.
Butternut squash, spinach, ricotta, and mozzarella. Noodles, more mozzarella, Parmesan!
Now the long story.
Gluten-free+grain-free cauliflower noodles layered with a creamy butternut squash-ricotta filling and an extra-rich spinach-mozzarella filling, topped with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, sprinkled with a bit of Italian seasoning, baked until piping hot and just starting to brown.

Short story, long story, a short story that seems like a long story, a long story that seems like a long story?
Who cares, really.
This lasagna is so awesome what matters, is that you make it, share it, and eat it.

And yeah, okay, I know I’ve been on a roll with the butternut squash lately: soup, salad, and now this lasagna. But let me just take a second to assure that you don’t have to love butternut squash to love this recipe. It's just so good, you won't even believe it!
This is also the kind of real food meal that is healthy enough to make you feel okay about skipping tonight’s workout. Though you really shouldn’t.
Let’s not forget that there are 24 hours or 1440 minutes or 86,400 seconds or 86,400,000 milliseconds in a day.
You can definitely find the time to workout, cook this lasagna and polish it off!

Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna with Cauliflower Noodles                              Print this recipe!

Though I used cauliflower noodles, feel free to use the noodles you prefer, including refined-carb-gluten-loaded pasta noodles — just don’t ask me to condone your choice, ha!

Ingredients
Serves 8

Butternut squash mixture

2 cups butternut squash puree (about half squash)
1 cup ricotta cheese
½ cup milk (your choice of milk, I used almond)
1 teaspoon fine grain salt
Pinch of nutmeg

Spinach mixture

2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
6 oz / 170 gr fresh spinach
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 egg

Lasagna

Noodles (to make cauliflower noodles, follow this recipe)
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
Pinch of Italian seasoning (make your own Italian seasoning with this recipe)

Directions

Butternut squash mixture

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until smooth and creamy. Set aside.

Spinach mixture

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and thyme and sauté for 2 minutes, until fragrant. Add the spinach and sauté until just barely wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, egg, salt, and nutmeg.
Add the spinach and stir to combine.
Transfer the spinach mixture to a food processor and pulse a few times until smooth (this is optional, but it makes for a very nice texture.)

Assemble lasagna

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C) and place a rack in the middle.
Lightly grease a baking dish (I used a 11x8.5-inch dish) with butter or olive oil.
Spread a couple of tablespoons of butternut squash mixture at the bottom of the baking dish.
Arrange noodles side by side, covering the bottom of the baking dish.
Spread ½ of the butternut squash mixture and sprinkle 2 tablespoon of Parmesan cheese and 2 tablespoons of mozzarella cheese on top.
Cover with noodles.
Spread ½ of the spinach mixture and sprinkle 2 tablespoon of Parmesan cheese and 2 tablespoons of mozzarella cheese on top.
Repeat to make one further layer with the butternut squash mixture and ending with the spinach layer and cheese.
Sprinkle Italian seasoning over the cheese and cover with foil (to prevent sticking either spray foil with cooking spray or make sure that foil does not touch the cheese).
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake uncovered for an additional 10 minutes.
Let stand 10 minutes before serving so that the noodles can soak up some of the moisture.

Nutrition facts

One serving yields 271 calories, 18 grams of fat, 12 grams of carbs, and 17 grams of protein.