Pumpkin Lasagna

We made our favorite fall meal for dinner this weekend – pumpkin lasagna!

It’s a very rich lasagna of pumpkin, sage, prosciutto, and creamy bechamel sauce. It’s best served with just a small side salad and a little crusty bread. We usually halve the recipe, then assemble in 2 bread pans, then eat one and freeze one for another time.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin, Prosciutto, and Parmesan Lasagna
from Cold-Weather Cooking by Sarah Leah Chase

Pumpkin Filling
1/2 C unsalted butter
6 leeks, trimmed, rinsed well, and minced
4 cups pumpkin purée fresh or canned
1/2 C dry white wine
s&p

Bechamel
1/2 C unsalted butter
6 Tbs flour
2 C chicken broth
2 C light cream
1 C Parmesan cheese
1/2 Tsp nutmeg
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
S&P

For the Layers
1 and 1/4 packages of precooked lasagna sheets, enough for three layers of three sheets each
8 oz prosciutto
1/4 C fresh sage leaves, torn into pieces
1 1/2 C Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 15 x 10 casserole or baking pan.

Filling
Melt the butter over medium heat in a large skillet and sauté the leeks until very tender, about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally. Stir in the pumpkin and the white wine and cook for 2 additional minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat, add some salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

Bechamel
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the flour and whisk until smooth. Cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the chicken stock, then the light cream; cook, stirring constantly, until smooth and thickened. Stir in the Parmesan and season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Stir 1/2 C of the hot sauce into the beaten eggs in a small bowl, then stir the egg mixture into the remaining sauce. Cook a couple minutes longer, stirring constantly, then remove from the heat.

To Assemble
Male a layer of the lasagna noodles in the prepared casserole and top with half of the prosciutto and 1/3 of the bechamel. Sprinkle 1/2 of the sage. Cover with another layer of lasagna sheets and spoon all of the pumpkin filling on top, spreading it evenly. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over pumpkin layer. Make another layer of lasagna noodles and top with the rest of the prosciutto, another 1/3 of the bechamel, and the remaining sage. Make a final layer of noodles and top with remaining bechamel and Parmesan.

Bake for 50 – 60 minutes, until the top lightly browned. Let cool for 10 minutes before cutting and serving. Serves 12.