20 Squash Gorgonzola Lasagna

Major news you guys, I joined the Twitter @SeaweedandSass.  Julia @RoastedRootFood held my hand walked me through the beginning, a huge thanks to her!  

Yes I know I'm way behind, people's grandmothers are on twitter by now.  Is it even cool to be on Twitter anymore?  Should I be capitalizing the T? 

But I can tell you the name of just about any bird that flies by... 

....not the same?

See, I need help.  

And piece of cake.   

And the season premier of How I Met Your Mother is next week!! So excited.  I'm going to have to make some good tv snacks I think.  But in the mean time let's talk about this lasagna.  

This dish dives head first into fall, crossing ever so slightly into winter even.  The creamy sweet roasted squash with the salty sausage and pungent cheese, it's a creamy bite of fall with a little crunch from the walnuts.  You'll feel like you're in the harvest season with this dish.  Yea, it's a little on the heartier side but everyone needs a little comfort food now and then.  Plus, I made this when we had company and it filled some big appetites with no problem.  Serve it along with a nice salad with vinaigrette for a balanced meal.

Squash Gorgonzola Lasagna

Ingredients:

2 Acorn Squash
salt & pepper
olive oil

1 lb pork sausage

1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
24 oz Cottage Cheese
1 egg
garlic salt
pepper
italian seasoning (oregano, basil, marjoram)
3 Tablespoons butter
4 Tablespoons all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk (use more as needed)
Lasagna noodles (9 oz box for no boil or around 14 oz box)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

1.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

2.  Cut the acorn squashes in half, using the end of a sharp knife poke holes on the inside and outside of each half.  Drizzle olive oil on the side of each and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

3.  Take 2 13x9 pans and spray with non stick spray.  Put each squash half in face down and then fill the pan with about an inch of water.

4.  Bake for 50-60 minutes or until fork tender.  Set aside to cool.  Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and keep it on.

5.  Add the cottage cheese to a bowl.  Mix in egg, garlic salt, pepper, and italian seasoning.  If you gorgonzola cheese is in block form go ahead and crumble now and add as well, if it's already crumbled add it now.   Mix well and set aside.

6.  If you need to boil your noodle go ahead and do that now according to the package and drain.  If you have the no boil kind then go on to the next step.

7.  In a large skillet cook the sausage over medium high heat until cooked through (no pink).  Be sure to break it up into crumbles.  Spoon the sausage out of the pan and into a bowl to set aside.  You want to keep the grease in the bottom of the pan.

8.  In the same sausage pan add the butter and flour over medium heat.  Stirring constantly, cook the butter and flour together until a golden brown color.  Be sure to scrape the yummy bits leftover from the sausage off the bottom of the pan :)  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

9.  Add the milk slowly to the butter flour mixture.  Keep stirring until thickened.  Once it starts to thicken add the sausage back to the pan.  Now you have a sausage gravy type mixture.  Remove from heat and set aside.

10.  Scrape out the inside of the squash into a bowl, be sure not to get the skin in it.  Stir the squash so there aren't any major lumps in it.

11.  Finally time to assemble!  First put a layer of sausage gravy on the bottom of the pan, then a layer of noodles, then a layer of squash, then a layer of noodles, then all of the cottage cheese mixture, then a layer of noodles, then the rest of the squash and then top that with any remaining sausage gravy.  Top it all off with the chopped walnuts and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

Enjoy!