Comfort food at its fall and winter finest.
This sausage butternut squash lasagna recipe is a true centerpiece supper: pure fall and winter comfort food that tastes amazing, and looks spectacular. Â
Sausage Butternut Squash Lasagna Recipe
There are the regular weeknight dinners — the ones that are well-balanced and tasty, and ideally take no more than 30 minutes start to finish. Then there are what I call “company dinners,” a.k.a. “Sunday dinners,” a.k.a. “worth the extra time and effort dinners.” This recipe for Sausage Butternut Squash Lasagna Roll-Ups is more than worth the extra time and effort.
Italian sausage, roasted butternut squash, creamy béchamel, and lasagna noodles combine in a way that creates a truly spectacular casserole dinner. The roll-up form gives give a polished look to each plate, and the flavors and textures all meld together for a seasonal, comfort food victory.
Is It Lasagna or Lasagne?
Just a fun bit of trivia for anyone who is a food nerd like me.
- “Lasagne” is an Italian word referring to the type of noodles and a finished dish using lasagne noodles.
- “Lasagna” is an Italian-American word, referring to the completed, cheesy, layered dish that uses lasagne noodles.
Lasagne is also correct in the United States, though lasagna is more common. Now you know!
How to Make This Sausage Butternut Squash Lasagna Recipe
This dish is all about the components, plus assembly. This takes a few steps and will take some time. But like I said, I promise that it will be worth it in the end.
- Roast the butternut squash in the oven.
- While the butternut squash is roasting, make the béchamel. This is the white sauce we’re going to infuse with garlic and rosemary — yum. You can also boil your lasagne (not lasagna) noodles.
- Cook your Italian sausage and onion in a pan.
- Get the cheeses and seasoning ready.
Now that all of your components (squash, sausage, onion, white sauce) are cooked, make the Sausage Butternut Squash Lasagna Roll-Ups assembly line.
- Combine the squash, sausage, and cheese in a bowl.
- Lay out three noodles on a clean surface, like a sheet pan or large cutting board. Spoon a bit of béchamel on each noodle. Spread some of the squash-sausage-cheese filling. Roll. Repeat.
- Finally, pour the rest of the white sauce over the rollups, top with cheese, and bake until bubbly delicious.
Sausage Butternut Squash Lasagna Roll-Ups: Recipe Notes
Do I need to make the lasagna in roll-up form? I like the idea of roll-ups here for no reason other than they make for a beautiful presentation and are easy to serve and portion. Roll-ups do take a little extra time, though, so feel free to just make regular lasagna strips if you’d like.
This dish is fairly rich, so I have portioned this as two roll-ups per person, for a total of six servings. But you may need more or less depending on whom you are feeding.
This recipe will make about 12 roll-ups total, and therefore use only 12 lasagne noodles. But boil the entire pound of noodles anyway, which will give you several leftover. The noodles have a tendency to break or tear. This way, you have a few spare. You may be able to eek out an extra roll-up or two anyway. I like to tear the leftover lasagne noodles toss them in a light tomato sauce for a rustic pasta dish. Waste not!
Serving suggestions: a crisp green salad would be a perfect balance to this rich dinner.
Butternut Squash Lasagna Wine Pairings
For white, this lasagna calls for something with a little body, but not heavy. A lightly-oaked Chardonnay is a classic pairing for butternut squash pastas, but Viognier also would taste amazing with its honeysuckle notes.
And for reds, try a California Pinot Noir. This wine will balance the richness but still have enough earthiness and pepper to complement the flavors.
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Sausage Butternut Squash Lasagna Roll-Ups
Ingredients
For the Roasted Butternut Squash
- 2 pounds diced butternut squash, fresh or frozen
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
For the Béchamel
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 quart (4 cups) milk
- pinch ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 3 cloves garlic, gently smashed
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 large sprig rosemary, with more to garnish (if desired)
For the Filling, and to Assemble and Finish
- 1 pound mild Italian sausage, casings removed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 8 ounces (about 2 cups) grated Asiago cheese
- 1 pound lasagne noodles (not no-bake)
- 4 cups béchamel sauce, above
Instructions
For the Roasted Butternut Squash
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and line or grease a half-sheet pan.
- Toss the butternut squash with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread on the sheet pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until soft.
For the Béchamel
- While the squash is roasting, make the béchamel. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, whisking constantly for several minutes, until the color turns pale golden.
- Add the milk in two or three quick additions, whisking between each. Add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, bay leaves, rosemary and garlic. Stir. Bring just to a boil -- careful; it will foam! Whisking, lower to a simmer and let cook for about five minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened.
- Strain and reserve.
For the Filling, and to Assemble and Finish
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9 x 13-inch casserole pan.
- Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Cook the lasagne noodles until al dente. Drain and reserve.
- While the pasta is cooking, cook the sausage and onion in a wide-bottomed skillet with the two tablespoons of olive oil until the onion is translucent and the sausage is fully cooked, about 10 minutes. Be sure to break up the sausage as much as possible as it cooks. Drain on a sheet pan lined with paper towels until slightly cooled.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together the drained sausage and onion, the grated asiago cheese, half of the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, and the roasted butternut squash.
- Take a nice stretch or pour yourself a glass of wine. You're getting there! The hardest work is over.
- Spoon about a cup of béchamel onto the bottom of the greased casserole. Working one lasagne noodle at a time: Lay a lasagne noodle flat on a clean surface. (I use the sheet pan.) Spread a spoonful of béchamel on the noodle. Spread some of the sausage-squash-cheese filling over the noodle, then roll it up as tight as feels comfortable. Gently lay it down in the casserole. Repeat until all of the lasagna rolls are settled snugly in the casserole.
- Pour the remaining béchamel over the roll-ups and sprinkle with the remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano and a good few twists of black pepper.
- Bake, uncovered, for about 45 minutes, until bubbling. Let rest 10 minutes, tented with foil, before serving. Use an additional rosemary spring as a garnish if you like.
9 comments
Kerry
Happy Thanksgiving! I treated myself to this lasagna. Fantastic ?? I was mentally prepared to take my time and do laundry inbetween the stages. My butternut squash was very good (not always the case) I followed the recipe with the exception of adding sage. I added a bit of rubbed sage to the onion and sausage mix and to the bechmel. I pre cooked the noodles al dente cooked perfectly in the oven. There was plenty sauce, nothing got absorbed. Had a some squash/sausage mix left over and just topped the lasagna before the last of the bechmel and cheese! I washed alot of dishes but have enjoyed every bite ?
Robin Wilson
I’m like everyone else. I swore I would never make this again but it is sooo yummy! I have tons of winter squash so I would like to make and freeze some. At what point would you stop and freeze the dish? Would you complete it to the point of baking and freeze? I figure I can make extra bechemel sauce when cooking afterwards?
Unpeeled
Hi, Robin! Haha! I know–I wish this wasn’t so good because it IS a bit of a slog with all the components! In terms of freezing, the only issue might be the bechamel, because dairy tends to separate when frozen. If you’d like, make all the components, freeze the squash and sausage mixture together, and freeze the bechamel separately. Let the sausage/squash and bechamel thaw in the fridge overnight, then whisk the bechamel over low heat to re-emulsify. Boil the lasagna noodles, assemble, and bake.
Lily H
I swore that I would never makes this again after looking at the state of the kitchen when the lasagna was finally in the oven….until I tasted it. Best lasagna ever! Completely worth the effort! Delicious and unusual enough for special occasions.
Do you think this could be prepared in advance to the point of baking and kept in the fridge a day or two before cooking?.
Unpeeled
Hi, Lily! Haha-I know what you mean. When I made it, I felt like a lasagna bomb had gone off. I tried to warn everyone in the opening paragraph, but yes, it is a bit of an effort, but one I am glad we agree is well worth it.
As for advance prep, the short answer is yes, definitely. The more persnickety answer is that pasta has a way of continuing to absorb moisture over time, which could make the finished lasagna a little drier. I think I would do everything EXCEPT pour the bechamel on top at the end. So, use what bechamel you need for the bottom of the casserole and the roll-ups, then keep the rest of the sauce separately in the fridge. Before baking, reheat it, stir in an additional tablespoon or two of milk, then pour over the refrigerated lasagna rolls, and bake. It will probably take an extra 10 minutes or so from refrigerated temperature. Glad you love it!
Julia
Had this for dinner last night. Amazing.
R. Hall
I made this as a regular lasagna and not roll-ups, but did exactly the recipe other than that and it was excellent. A little time consuming because you have to 1) make the pasta 2) roast the squash 3) cook the sausage and onions and 4) make the white sauce. But it comes together quickly and I have to say it is well worth it. A delicious recipe.
JR
This is incredibly good. Rich and worth every bite.
Rachel W.
AMAZING. Yum, yum, yum. Everyone RAVED. Even my son, who “hates butternut squash.”