pumpkin lasagna with sausage
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This recipe was inspired by Rachel Ray's Rigatoni with Pumpkin and Sausage. On the night that I was craving this, my pantry offerings were limited. I didn't have any cream or rigatoni. I didn't have any wine. I only had a four-year old box of lasagna noodles. Cheddar-jack would not have been my first choice -- but that's what I had. I also had a bunch of left overs: a little hunk of cream cheese, some pork tenderloin from two nights ago. A bunch of baked sweet potatoes. That last little bit of Canadian maple syrup in can. This recipe lends itself well to substitutions.
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yield
8 to 12 servings
prep time
40 Min
cook time
40 Min
method
Bake
Ingredients For pumpkin lasagna with sausage
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1 1/2 lbbulk italian sausage
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1 lgsweet onion, diced
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1 tspdried sage
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29 ozpumpkin, canned
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2 to 3 cmashed sweet potato
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1 qtchicken stock
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1/4 cmaple syrup (or brown sugar)
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2 ozcream cheese
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3 Tbspbalsamic vinegar
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1 tspground cinnamon
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1/2 tspground nutmeg
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To Tastesalt & pepper
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1 cgrated cheese, pecorino romano
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1 cparmigiano-reggiano, grated
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2 ccheddar-jack, shredded blend
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1 lblasagna noodles, cooked
How To Make pumpkin lasagna with sausage
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1In a skillet, cook the bulk italian sausage, diced onions and sage together on medium-high heat. The onions should be very tender and the sausage should develop some browning. Set aside to be added to the sauce later.
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2In a large 5-quart pot on medium high heat, add pumpkin, sweet potato and chicken stock and stir well to blend ingredients thoroughly. Continue to add cream cheese, syrup/sugar, balsamic vinegar and spices and stir well. Taste sauce for seasoning and add salt/pepper if desired. Stir frequently until mixture starts to simmer and remove from heat. Add meat mixture to the sauce and stir together.
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3Prepare lasagna noodles according to package directions. (I do this stove-top step last and I place the noodles in cold water so they don't stick together during the assembly of the lasagna.)
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4Preheat oven to 350F. Oil a lasagna pan (a 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan is not quite large enough - but if you don't mind leftover noodles and sauce, it'll do just fine.)
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5Drop a layer of the pumpkin-sausage sauce in the bottom of the lasagna pan. Cover with a single layer of noodles. Ladle another layer of sauce over the noodles. Sprinkle on a quarter-cup of parmigian, a quarter-cup of romano and about a half cup of cheddar-jack cheeses over the sauce.
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6Continue layering noodles, sauce and cheese until the pan is full or you run out of ingredients. Place the lasagna pan on a baking sheet (to catch any spills or bubble-overs) and cook on the center rack of the oven for 30-40 minutes. Cheeses should be fully melted, edges should be bubbling. Remove lasagna from oven and let set for 5-10 minutes before serving.
- Last Step: Don't forget to share! Make all your friends drool by posting a picture of your finished recipe on your favorite social network. And don't forget to tag Just A Pinch and include #justapinchrecipes so we can see it too!
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