Roasted pumpkin and tomato lasagna
Roasted pumpkin and tomato lasagna. The best fall inspired baked pasta dish there is. Want to take it easy this Thanksgiving? This is the dish to make. And it will be your TG show stopper!
Equipment
- 2 baking sheets
- parchment paper
- 1 9x13 ceramic or glass lasagna pan
Ingredients
- 3½ cups oven roasted tomato sauce* (full recipe for the sauce, see notes below)(or use store bought tomato sauce)
- 1 medium pumpkin (you need 2 cups of puree)(or use a can of pumpkin puree)
- 1 tsp pumpkin spice (to season the pumpkin puree)
- 1 lbs kale roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 box (whole wheat) lasagna sheets (the ones you don't have to pre-boil)
- 2 cup grated mozzarella
- ½ cup grated parmesan
- salt and pepper (to taste. For pumpkin puree, tomato sauce and garlic kale)
- 1 handful fresh thyme leaves (for garnishing, optional)
Instructions
Prepping all the veggies (veggie layers of the lasagna)
- Preheat the oven to 350F/175C.
- If you are making your own pumpkin puree and tomato sauce, start with roasting the tomatoes and the pumpkin. Prepare one baking sheet with parchment paper for the pumpkin. And another one for the tomatoes.
- Sprinkle one half of the pumpkin with salt and pepper and drizzle some olive oil on it (or both halves if your pumpkin is fairly small... you need 3 cups of puree). With the flat/cut-side down, place it/them on the prepared baking sheet and roast it for 20-30 minutes in the preheated oven. If a fork slides in smoothly, the pumpkin is soft enough and ready.
- Cut the tomatoes in half and transfer them to a high rimmed baking sheet with the flat/cut side up. Drizzle the tomatoes with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Then sprinkle them with salt, pepper and dried oregano. Roast them for 20-30 minutes (together with the pumpkin) and then add the roughly chopped onion and the garlic cloves. Roast them for another 10-15 minutes until the onion are starting to turn golden brown and the cloves of garlic are softened. For a more detailed, step-by-step explanation and ingredient list, visit the recipe for my oven roasted tomato sauce right here.
- While the veggies are roasting in the oven, heat up a skillet at medium heat and add a tiny bit of olive oil to it. Once hot, add the kale and garlic and stir until the kale is wilted. Set aside.
- Once the veggies are roasted, empty the baking sheet with tomatoes, onions and garlic into a high container and use a submergible blender to turn the roasted veggies into a thick smooth sauce (you can also use a blender instead. Just make sure your veggies are slightly cooled off before adding them to the blender bowl). Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste. Do the same for the pumpkin. Before blending it into a puree, add a pinch of pumpkin spice, and salt and pepper to taste.
Layer the lasagna
- Add the first thin layer of tomato sauce to the cermaic/glass lasagna pan. A thin layer is enough. After adding a layer of lasagna sheets on top of the thin layer of tomato sauce, add another (thicker) layer of tomato sauce, followed by a thin layer of grated mozzarella cheese. Then another layer of lasagna sheets.
- The next layer is the pumpkin puree; spread out all of the pumpkin puree into an even layer and finish this off with a thin layer of grated mozzarella cheese as well, then cover it all with a layer of lasagna sheets.
- Now spread out the garlic kale over the lasagna sheets, add another thin layer of grated mozzarella cheese before covering it again with a layer of lasagna sheets.
- The last layer is the remaining tomato sauce (no problem is this layer is thicker; it will seep down the sides and keep the lasagna from drying out during baking.Add a thick(er) layer of grated cheese. For the top layer I used both grated mozzarella and parmesan cheese. This is the final layer.
Bake the lasagna
- Bake the pumpkin lasagna for 40-45 minutes until the lasagna sheets are softened. To check for doneness, stick a fork or skewer in the center to see if it is heated all the way through. And straight away you will notice if the lasagna sheets are soft as well.
- Optional: to get a more crunchy and golden brown top, turn on the griddle for a few minutes at the end of the baking time.
Serve the lasagna
- Cut the lasagna in blocks and divide them over plates. Garnish with fresh thyme leaves (you can skip this step, but the thyme leaves give it even more depth of flavor).
Notes
*full recipe for oven roasted tomato sauce (double the amount so you will have enough sauce for the lasagna)
Nutritional information:
the information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice.