Butternut Squash Lasagna and Sausage and Taleggio

A cosy and comforting butternut squash lasagna made with fresh homemade pastacreamy béchamel and layered with Italian sausage and taleggio cheese. This recipe is out of this world good and solid comfort food on a chilly evening.

Lasagna is, without a doubt, one of our favourite comfort foods and yours too, apparently. Our lasagna al forno continues to receive good 5-star reviews, telling us how much you love it.

This lasagna combines so many gorgeous Fall flavours using sweet butternut squash, rosemary and sage.

It's a lot quicker to make since there's no ragu involved, but honestly, it's as good.

To reduce the prep time further, you can use store-bought lasagna sheets, although we highly recommend using fresh ones sold in the refrigerator rather than dried.

Ingredient notes

• Taleggio cheese – this is one of our favourite Italian cheeses, and it's suited to melting in dishes like this because it retains so much flavour even when melted. If you can't find it, then Fontina DOP would be a great substitute.
• Italian sausages – Italian sausages are different in various regions. Tuscan and Sicilian sausages seem to be the most common to find outside of Italy. Use your favourite ones, make sure they're not spicy/hot sausages.
• Garlic, sage and rosemary – We highly recommend using fresh herbs and garlic as it makes a big difference in flavour.
• Pasta – when it comes to lasagna, we make homemade pasta 9 times out of 10 because we notice a big difference in the overall quality and flavour. When there isn't enough time, our next best option would be store-bought fresh lasagna sheets sold in the refrigerator.

Visual walk-through of the recipe

If making homemade pasta, we recommend making this first and letting it rest. We use 3 eggs 1 egg yolk and 300g of Italian 00 flour. See our full step by step pasta guide here.

Step 1 (chop the squash) – Trim the top and bottom of the squash, then remove the skin. We use a knife to trim it off in large chunks. Scoop out the seeds and stringy bits, then cut it into small cubes (photo 1).

Step 2 (cook the squash) – Heat the oil in a pan and saute the garlic gently until fragrant. Add the squash and chopped herbs and saute for 5 mins. Add 1/3 cup (80ml) of water, then cover with a lid. Cook on low for 20 minutes, until fork-tender (photos 2-4).

Step 3 (brown the sausage) – Heat another large pan and brown the sausage meat (skins removed). Break it into medium-sized crumbs with a wooden spoon, then set aside (photo 5).

Step 4 (make the bechamel) – Melt the butter in a saucepan then add the flour. Whisk to a thick paste to create a roux. Gradually add the milk and whisk until thickened. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg and Parmigiano cheese (photos 6-8).

Step 5 (blitz the squash) – Next, add the cooked squash and garlic to a food processor and blitz until smooth. We add a few spoons of bechamel to get it extra creamy and smooth (photos 9 and 10).

Step 6 (squash bechamel) – add the squash puree to the bechamel and stir until combined, set aside (photos 11 and 12).

Step 7 (blanch pasta) – Bring a large pot of water to a boil and blanch the lasagna sheets for around 30 seconds. Drain them on a clean kitchen towel. We recommend doing this step whether using homemade or store-bought fresh pasta sheets (photos 13 and 14).

Step 8 (assemble) – Add a few spoonfuls of squash bechamel sauce to the bottom of the baking dish and spread it out. This stops the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the dish. Then continue with the layers in this order: pasta, bechamel, sausage, taleggio, Parmigiano, until everything is used up. The final top layer will be the same (photos 15-17).

Step 9 (bake) – you can refrigerate the lasagna until you're ready to bake it (up to 24 hours in advance) or bake it straight away. 30-40 minutes at 200C/400F until golden brown on top and piping hot throughout (photo 18).

Recipe tips and FAQs

• Blanch your pasta – whether using fresh or dried pasta, we highly recommend blanching the pasta in salted, boiling water for a few seconds, then laying them on clean kitchen towels for a few minutes before assembling. It gives the pasta more structure and strength and improves the lasagna.
• Assemble as you go – We find it easier to roll out and batch 1/4 of the pasta dough at a time and start assembling the lasagna. This helps save space, too.
• Add mozzarella/other cheeses – this lasagna doesn't have mozzarella, but you can add it if you like. Add it to each layer in addition to the other cheeses or omit one of them. We do recommend using a cheese with a strong flavour (such as taleggio or gorgonzola) to balance out the sweetness of the squash.

Can we prep this in advance?

Yes, you can assemble the lasagna the day before and store it in the refrigerator before baking. Let the dish sit at room temperature for around 30 minutes before baking to avoid putting cold dishes in a hot oven.

Can we freeze the lasagna?

Yes, you can freeze the lasagna in a suitable dish for up to 3 months. Defrost completely before reheating.

More good lasagna recipes to try

Pasta

Lasagne al Forno (Italian Beef Lasagna)

Pasta

Authentic Lasagna Bolognese (Lasagne alla Bolognese)

Fresh Pasta

Lasagna di Carnevale (Neopolitan lasagna)

Pasta

Italian Lamb Lasagna with Pecorino Bechamel

Ingredients

Makes 8 - 10 servings

• 1 medium Butternut squash (1kg/2lbs untrimmed 700g/1.5lbs trimmed)
• 2 garlic cloves (whole and peeled)
• 4 sage leaves
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1.5 lbs (700g) Italian sausages (skins removed)
• 7 oz (200g) Taleggio cheese (rind removed)
• ⅓ cup 80ml water

For the bechamel

• 80 g (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 80 g flour ((1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon))
• 4 cups (1 litre) whole milk
• 1 pinch fresh grated nutmeg
• 1 cup (70g) finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano (plus extra for grating)
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil

For the pasta

• 300 g Italian 00 flour ((2 cups plus 2 tablespoons))
• 3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk ((175g eggs total))
• Or use 450g/1 lb of fresh lasagna sheets

Equipment

• Baking dish
• Hand whisk
• Food processor
• Pasta machine (if making homemade)

Method

If making homemade pasta

1. Tip your flour on a clean work surface and make a wide well in the middle. Add your eggs to the well and whisk them with a fork to break them up.

2. While whisking, gradually bring the flour in from the sides until a thick paste forms. Use your hands to knead the rest into a dough.

3. Once a firm dough forms, knead it with your hands for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Cover with plastic wrap (cling film) and set aside.

4. For a step by step tutorial on making pasta see our homemade pasta dough recipe.

Cook the squash

1. Trim the butternut squash and chop it into small-medium sized cubes, set aside. Finely chop the fresh rosemary and sage and peel the garlic.

2. Heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan. Add the 2 whole, peeled garlic cloves and saute them for a few seconds until fragrant and starting to turn lightly golden.

3. Add the cubed butternut squash, chopped herbs and a good pinch of salt. Saute for 5 minutes then add ⅓ cup of water (80ml) then cover with a lid. Turn the heat down low and cook for 20 minutes until fork tender (give it a stir half way through cook to make sure it doesn't stick). Once cooked, turn off the heat and set aside.

4. Meanwhile, heat another pan on a medium heat. Brown the sausage meat, breaking it up with the side of a wooden spoon into small-medium sized crumbs. Once cooked, turn the heat off and set aside.

To make the bechamel

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Once melted, add the flour and whisk to form a thick paste. Let it cook while whisking for 1-2 minutes.

2. Add half of the milk and whisk until there are no lumps. Keeping it on a medium heat, stir the bechamel until thickened then gradually add the rest of the milk.

3. Add a good pinch of salt, pepper and nutmeg and whisk every now and then until thickened. Turn the heat up if needed but make sure it doesn't catch on the bottom.

4. Once thickened stir in the Parmigiano Reggiano then turn off the heat and set aside.

5. Add the butternut squash and garlic to a food processor and blitz into a puree. Add a few spoons of bechamel and blitz again until super smooth.

6. Transfer the squash puree to the bechamel and whisk until combined.

Blanch the pasta

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil and salt it well.

2. Divide the pasta into quarters and roll each section out into lasagne sheets using your pasta machine (we go to number 7 on our Marcato Atlas machine).

3. Cut the pasta to fit your baking dish then blanch them in batches for 2-3 for 30 seconds. Transfer them to a clean kitchen towel to drain for a few seconds.

4. Repeat this for each quarter of pasta (we start assembling the lasagna one quarter of pasta at a time to save room).

Assemble

1. Spread some butternut squash sauce on the bottom of your baking dish. Top with a layer of pasta then spread more sauce over the top. Sprinkle with some sausage, dot over Taleggio cheese then a small grating of Parmigiano Reggiano.

2. Repeat with the layers until everything is used up. You should get 5 layers in total. The final layer has everything on top (sauce, sausage, taleggio and parmigiano).

3. Pre-heat the oven to 200C/400F. Bake the lasagna uncovered for 40-45 minutes, remove and let it rest for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

Kitchen notes

• Making pasta when making homemade pasta, we highly recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh your flour. We have weighed our flour in cups to provide as accurate cup measurements as possible, but ultimately it comes down to how tightly the cup is packed. Always spoon the flour into the cups and level it off the a knife.
• Leftovers and storage leftovers will keep well in the fridge for up to 3 days and can be reheated in the oven until piping hot.