Pumpkin, Sausage, Spinach and Sage Lasagna

I’m not going to lie. I am pretty proud of this recipe. Not only did my dinner guests oooh and ahhh over it, my boyfriend and I both loved it for lunch for leftovers. Plus, although it can seem complicated to say “make a bechamel sauce”, it’s really not too hard. Plus, with the no-bake noodles these days, it really saves a step!

Ingredients:

• For Pumpkin Bechamel sauce:  
• 3 tbsp butter, unsalted
• 3 tbsp flour
• 2 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• For the Filling:
• 1 lb. ground pork sausage, cooked and crumbled
• 2 cups spinach, strained (fresh/cooked or frozen/defrosted/strained)
•  8 oz. ricotta cheese
•  1 large egg
•  1/4 tsp dried sage or 1 tsp. freshly minced sage
•  1/4 tsp salt
•  3 cup mozzarella cheese, divided
•  1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• For Lasagna:
• 6-8 no-boil lasagna noodles (I prefer Barilla)
• 1 tbsp. freshly sage

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Find a square baking pan.

In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, add the butter. Once the butter has melted, add the flour and whisk for 30 seconds. Slowly pour in the milk, whisking continuously until smooth.

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Bring the mixture to a simmer. Let thicken. Add the salt, pepper, nutmeg and the pumpkin, whisk to combine. (Add milk to Bechamel if too ‘tight.’)

Add in cooked sausage and spinach in. Remove from heat.

Mix in the ricotta, egg, sage, salt, mozzarella, and Parmesan.

In the bottom of the pan, add 1/4 cup of sauce. Layer noodles so that they completely cover the bottom of the pan (you will most likely use two, then break up the third one). Add half of the filling, then pour 1/3 of the sauce over top.

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Repeat by adding noodles, then filling, then sauce. Add the final layer of noodles, followed by the remaining sauce over top. Sprinkle the 1 cup of cheese over the sauce.

Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and continue baking for an additional 20 minutes or until the top begins to turn golden brown. Remove and allow to sit for 15 minutes before cutting and serving. Garnish with fresh sage (optional.)