Pumpkin and Gorgonzola Lasagne
Indulge in fall cheesy and earthy flavours! This Pumpkin & Gorgonzola Lasagne recipe is creamy, comforting and perfect for cosy nights in.
Equipment
- Oven
- Oven proof dish
- Knife and cutting board
- Silicon or wooden spoon
- Medium pot with lid
- Small pot
Ingredients
Pumpkin and Cheese filling
- 200 gr Gorgonzola Cheese I recommend to go for Gorgonzola but any blue cheese work too :)
- 1 Medium pumpkin or squash About 500gr
- half Red onion
- 3 tbsp Grana Padano or Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
- 1 pinch Black Pepper optional
- 1 Vegetable Stock cube
- 1 splash Extra virgin olive oil
Béchamel sauce
- 80 gr Butter
- 80 gr White flour
- 400 ml Milk
- 1 tsp Nutmeg
- 1 pinch salt
Pasta layers
- 8-10 sheets Wholewheat pasta I prefer wholewheat and pasta sheets that don't need pre-cooking. But you can use any type you like :)
Instructions
Cooking the Pumpkin
- First of all, we need to cook the pumpkin. I'd suggest you roast the pumpkin in the oven first as I think it just brings out all the nice sweet and smoky flavours. You can follow my super easy Roasted Pumpkin recipe here :)If you don't want to wait for the pumpkin to roast, don't worry, we can cook it straight on the hob with the rest of the ingredients!
- To a medium pot, add your diced onion, a little water, the stock, a splash of oil and salt. Leave the onion to cook at medium heat until it softens. Grab your roasted pumpkin, cut it into medium to small pieces, add it to the pot and give it a good stir. Leave to absorb the flavours for at least 5 minutes, low heat, lid on, mixing from time to time.RAW PUMPKINIf you've decided to cook the pumpkin directly into the pot, you can follow the same process above. However, you'll need to keep adding warm water, a little at a time to allow the pumpkin to cook and soften. It should take about 20 minutes.
Making the Béchamel sauce
- While your pumpkin is cooking, we make the Béchamel sauce. But first, preheat the oven to 180℃ static, measure the milk and set it aside, outside the fridge so it can reach room temperature.In a medium pot, add the butter. Set at low heat - when the butter is melted start adding a little at a time your flour. Make sure to stir in well to avoid any lumps! Once you see a creamy but firm paste forming, add the milk - again a little at a time and stirring continuously. Cook the sauce for at least 5 minutes, until the milk is fully combined and the sauce has gained a creamy consistency (you can adjust the cooking time and the amount of ingredients depending on how thick or creamy you want your bechamel to be, it's up to you!). Add the nutmeg and salt. Your sauce is ready to be used, which means we're now on to the exciting part. The assembly!
Assembling your Pumpkin and Blue Cheese Lasagna
- Grab your oven-proof dish - I use Pyrex oven plates - and start by spreading a thin coat of sauce at the bottom. This is to make sure the first layer of pasta sheets will have enough moisture to cook properly.
- Add your first layer of pasta sheets - I use the ones that don't need pre-cooking but if you have those that need it, make sure to cook them prior to this step, according to the instructions on the box!
- Spread another bit of sauce.
- On top of it, add the pumpkin filling.
- Then dice or break your Gorgonzola cheese and add it on top of the pumpkin filling. Be careful not to add too much as this cheese is strong and may overpower the pumpkin flavour.
- Finely shred some Grana/Parmigiano cheese and repeat all the layering starting from the pasta sheets. Depending on how big your oven dish is you should end up with 3 to 4 layers. On the last one, I tend to add more cheese so it crisps up even more :)
- Bake for 30 minutes. It should come out with a nice browning crust but If you want an extra crunchy texture leave it in the oven for another 10 minutes. Your Pumpkin and Blue Cheese Lasagne is ready!Leave to cool for 10 minutes and serve. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Re-heat in the microwave or in the oven.
