Butternut Squash Lasagne with Goat Cheese, Sage, and Breadcrumbs

Recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine

I love any food that has to do with butternut squash - and sage. They go together like peanut butter and jelly, ice cream and apple pie, chips and salsa, Bonnie and Clyde, you get the point. It's a marriage made in heaven.

I have been having so much fun making and enjoying homemade pasta. It is made of just a few ingredients - three to be exact (for this recipe anyway) and really is very easy to make if you have a pasta machine. I use the pasta attachment for the KitchenAid Mixer; something I purchased probably ten or more years ago for using with modeling chocolate - though never used - until recently.

Not only does fresh pasta cook up quicker than dried, but it has such a soft texture and practically melts in your mouth. Like homemade bread, everyone should try it at least once, even if you don't have a pasta machine - it can be made by hand. A bit more labor intensive - rolling the dough out & cutting your specific shape with a knife - it's worth it.

This was good, and as my husband said, even better the next day; though the recipe I have for squash enchiladas is my favorite by far and probably a bit healthier. You can try both recipes and decide for yourself.

Success meter (1-3): 3

Brilliant idea to use a tablecloth! Thanks Fine Cooking. I normally would have all my kitchen towels spread out all over the counter.

You cook the sage with the butter till fragrant. The recipe says to toss the sage after cooking. Are they crazy?!! Have you ever eaten a fried sage leaf? So good. I crumbled the leaves and added them to the filling. If I were making raviolis I would place whole fried leaves on top for garnish just before serving.

I made my own breadcrumbs with whole wheat bread and baked them a bit too long (forgot about them!) They were a lot darker than the picture in the magazine, but I actually like the look it gives to the lasagne.

Funny all the cheese did not melt. It did the next day when the leftovers were warmed in the microwave.

You can find the recipe for the lasagne here.

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette

Recipe from Barefoot Contessa - Back to Basics
by Ina Garten




Let me start off by saying I would definitely use arugula in this salad as called for in the recipe; I used spinach that I had in the fridge that I wanted to use up. The peppery flavor of arugula would be a nice contrast to the sweet butternut squash. To me the spinach came across rather "flat" in taste and texture.

As for the dressing I did not have cider vinegar - used champagne vinegar, apple juice in place of apple cider, and I would cut the oil by half - all I could really taste is the olive oil. Not sure how much of an apple presence there would be if I had the correct vinegar and cider.

Monica of A Beautiful Mess raved about this salad; so maybe if I had the correct ingredients for the dressing it would have turned out better. This is definitely worth a second try and would look beautiful on the Thanksgiving table!

Success meter (1-3): 2

Make sure your squash is almost ready before

adding the cranberries. They turn out quite

chewy and hard if cooked too long.

The beginning of what I thought would be a great dressing.

Arugula makes for a prettier presentation. 

You can find the recipe at Barefoot Contessa and on Monica's blog.

Book Ten: Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison

Recipe: Winter Squash Galette

Mmmmm.....the scent of yeast when it's proofing and baking! I need to take up bread making. I used to pass up any recipes that called for yeast for it had always intimidated me; until this past November when I tried my hand at making Parker House Rolls; which I have to admit were to die for. So when this recipe gave me the choice of making Yeasted Tart Dough or Galette Dough (no yeast) I chose the former.

After baking the squash, there seemed to be a lot of liquid, not only on the tray, but in the bowl of which the flesh was placed after scooping it from the skin. I was concerned that all this liquid would make for a soggy crust. I placed the squash flesh into a strainer and let it drain while I cooked the onion/sage mixture. It still looked to have a bit of liquid in it, so I placed paper towels on it to soak up as much as I could.

As you can see in the picture below, my dough stretched considerably as I transferred it from my workspace to the baking sheet. I tried as I have in the past with tart dough, to roll it onto itself over the rolling pin, but it felt too sticky even with extra flour so I quickly moved it to the pan, but not quick enough! So my galette turned out oblong instead of round. Just as well, for I would not have had a large enough round plate to hold the galette.

All stages of this recipe smelled so good, from proofing of the yeast to the finished product coming out of the oven. However I must be loosing my taste buds. The flavors just were not as strong as I thought they should be. Maybe more sage next time and a sprinkle of coarse salt onto the dough after it has been brushed with the beaten egg.

Success meter (1-3): 3