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I’ve been searching for an awesome butternut squash lasagne, and it seems I have found the one I’ve been dreaming about. This dish is wonderful – rich, creamy, cheesy and packed with sweet squash.

I love the squash filling; the sage really compliments it, and the parsley adds a nice, fresh bite to it. The original recipe called for hazelnuts, but I preferred the idea of pecans, so I used those instead. I think they suit the dish perfectly.

As for the white sauce, on its own, it seems a little bland. Once it’s smothering the lasagne and all baked in, it becomes thick and rich and bursting with flavour. Of course, all the cheese helps with that!

I upped the garlic and the sage amounts from the original recipe, and I’m happy I did (but then again, I’m a garlic fiend). I think I added some extra salt in the squash filling; I just kept adding to taste.

If you’re looking for a really tasty way to serve butternut squash, this would be it!

Butternut Squash and Pecan Lasagne
adapted from epicurious

SQUASH FILLING

1 large onion, chopped
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (I used two squashes)
3 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
4 teaspoons chopped fresh sage (I used 1 – 2 tbsp dried sage)
1 cup pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped

WHITE SAUCE

1 teaspoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 cups milk
1 bay leaf (not California)
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

LASAGNE ASSEMBLY

2 cups fresh mozzarella, coarsely grated
1 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
12 (7- by 3 1/2-inch) sheets no-boil lasagne (1/2 lb)

FILLING
1. Cook onion in butter in a deep 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 10 minutes.

2. Add squash, garlic, salt, and white pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until squash is just tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in parsley, sage, and nuts. Cool filling.

SAUCE
1. Cook garlic in butter in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring, 1 minute.
2. Whisk in flour and cook roux, whisking, 3 minutes.

3. Add milk in a stream, whisking. Add bay leaf and bring to a boil, whisking constantly, then reduce heat and simmer, whisking occasionally, 10 minutes.

4. Whisk in salt and white pepper and remove from heat. Discard bay leaf. (Cover surface of sauce with wax paper if not using immediately.)

LASAGNE
1. Preheat oven to 425°F.

2. Toss cheeses together.

3. Spread 1/2 cup sauce in a buttered 13- by 9- by 2-inch glass baking dish (or other shallow 3-quart baking dish) and cover with 3 pasta sheets, leaving spaces between sheets.

4. Spread with 2/3 cup sauce and one third of filling, then sprinkle with a heaping 1/2 cup cheese.

5. Repeat layering 2 more times, beginning with pasta sheets and ending with cheese. Top with remaining 3 pasta sheets, remaining sauce, and remaining cheese.

6. Tightly cover baking dish with buttered foil and bake lasagne in middle of oven 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake until golden and bubbling, 10 to 15 minutes more. Let lasagne stand 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

*Note from Wikipedia: Lasagna (singular, pronounced [laˈzaɲa] in Italian; plural lasagne pronounced [laˈzaɲe]) is both a form of pasta in sheets (sometimes rippled, though seldom so in Northern Italy) and also a dish, sometimes named lasagne al forno (meaning “oven-cooked lasagne”) made with alternate layers of pasta, cheese, and often ragù (a meat sauce) or tomato sauce. In Italy the dish is called “Lasagne” and not “Lasagna”.

The word lasagna, which originally applied to a cooking pot, now simply describes the food itself.[1] Most English-speaking people follow the Italian usage and use the plural “lasagne” to refer to both the dish and the pasta, but Americans commonly use the singular “lasagna”.

So it looks like we’re moving! (For unwanted reasons, but that’s the way life works.)

We’re of course very excited, but also very busy. Move date is set for January 15th, so cooking/baking will be at a bare minimum. However, there’s some awesome butternut squash lasagna coming your way, so stay tuned.

We’ll be back with more regular postings come the end of January, I’m sure.

So happy holidays, and hope it doesn’t snow when we’re trying to put our stuff in the moving truck!

Soli made me poutine this weekend! It was even more delicious than usual.

There isn’t really a recipe, because poutine is forgiving in that way – pretty much anything can go in. This time, he baked up some potatoes, stirred together a brown sauce with two egg yolks to get in beautifully rich and velvety, added some peas, basil chiffonade and some seared foie gras – add the quintessential curds, bury the whole thing in gravy, and there it it – poutine!

It’s a beautiful thing, and my pretty much the most amazing meal possible.

My mom brought me some mini M&Ms baking bits from the US after her last visit, so I decided to go straight to the source when it came time to bake with them. I’ve had fairly good experiences baking things that come on the back of product packages (like condensed milk recipes, for example) – I figure the makers of the product have to know how best to use the item they’re selling, right?

Well, it seems M&Ms took the easy way out, and used a fairly standard, and mostly unimpressive blondie recipe on the back of the baking bits package. Not to say it was a bad recipe – oh no! They were very sweet, heavy and rich, just like a blondie should be. However, there was nothing interesting about the recipe, and the flavour was just kind of…flat.

However, the M&Ms made for a very pretty blondie, all studded with rainbows and chocolate. The addition of a dark chocolate, while unorthodox in the world of blondies, was fun. I’m not opposed to using them again in such an application. However, next time, I believe I will use a different blondie recipe – perhaps one with some white chocolate and a bit more saltiness.

Anyhow, for everyone who might like to try their hand at the recipe M&Ms uses, here it is:

M&Ms Rainbow Blondies
adapted from M&Ms

1 cup (2 sticks or 240mL) butter or margarine
1-1/2 cups (360mL) firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups (480mL) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 12-ounce package (1 3/4 cups or 340g) “M&M’s”® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Baking Bits
1 cup (240mL) chopped walnuts or pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C or 325°F/165°C for glass pan).

2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy; add egg and vanilla extract.

3. Combine flour and baking soda; add to creamed mixture just until combined. DOUGH WILL BE STIFF.

4. Stir in M&M’s® Chocolate Mini Baking Bits and nuts. Spread dough into a greased 13 x 9-inch (330mm x 230mm) baking pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out slightly moist with crumbs. Cool completely before cutting. Store in tightly covered container.