Now, I know you are all reading this and wondering, “What the heck is this crazy lady talking about?  Lasagna without pasta.  Madness!”  And honestly, the Italian in me is saying the very same thing.

Recently, my husband has been trying to significantly reduce the amount of refined carbohydrates that he consumes.  And truthfully, this new eating style has placed quite the strain on my dinner-making abilities.  Yesterday though, I was struck with a moment of genius!  I got an idea to use butternut squash, sliced very thin, as the “pasta” element in normal lasagna recipe.  I tested the dish out last night and I unequivocally say that the venture was a success!

Here is the recipe:

2 quarts tomato sauce (I used sauce I had frozen back in August when our tomato plants were the size of the ones in The Godfather!)

1 large butternut squash

1 yellow onion (chopped)

2 cloves garlic (chopped)

1 lb. grass-fed ground beef

1 lb fresh, local spinach (chopped)

1 lb mushrooms (chopped)

1 lb ricotta cheese (I used the fresh ricotta we made last week.)

1 lb mozzarella (Again, I used the cheese we made last week.)

I first took a 13 X 9 baking dish, drizzled it with olive oil and then coated the bottom of the pan with a layer of sauce.

Then I shaved the top portion of the butternut squash very thinly like this:

I then layered the pan with the sliced butternut squash.  Then I added a layer of ricotta.  Then sauce again, followed by another layer of squash.

Then I cooked up the onion, garlic, spinach and mushrooms in a bit of olive oil.  Once the meat was cooked through and the veggies tender and wilted, I added that to the lasagna pan, followed by more sauce and another layer of squash.

Then I finished it off with a final layer of sauce and topped it with sliced, fresh mozzarella.

I then covered the pan with a metal cookie sheet (you could use foil as well).  I baked it at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.  Then I took the cook sheet off and baked it for another 15 minutes, or until the cheese begins to brown.

Enjoy!

I would also like to apologize for my absence yesterday.  We have a ton of projects going in our house right now, many of which I will be sharing with all of you over the course of the next few days 🙂

I hope all of you have a marvelous week!