How do I know it's really fall? Instead of tomatoes and corn, my local farm stand has several different varieties of squash on display next to the jack-o'-lantern pumpkins.
While I'm still trying to figure out what to do with a giant blue Hubbard squash I couldn't resist buying (it was only $2), I had no problem turning a 3-pound white-skinned 'Cream of the Crop' squash into a favorite autumnal dish _ a luscious vegetarian lasagna.
Acorn squash lends itself to pasta because it has a sweet and creamy flesh that gets even sweeter when you roast it, and it pairs nicely with cheese. It's also full of vitamin C, low in calories (offsetting the butter and cheese in the recipe) and includes fiber.
To make the filling, you can either puree the roasted squash like I did and then mix it with the ricotta or simply layer slices or chunks of the cooked vegetable on top of the noodles with cheese. If you don't care for kale, substitute spinach or leave it out altogether. It's also OK to use tomato sauce instead of bechamel and tuck cooked ground meat or sausage between the layers to make carnivores happy.
Using no-cook noodles cuts down on the mess and prep time, but you have to be careful to completely cover them in sauce or they'll be crispy instead of tender.
Remember to always allow your lasagna sit for at least 10 minutes after pulling it out of the oven, no matter how good it looks. Or it will fall apart in a gloppy mess when you cut it.
