Day 5: Sqash me a Butternut

Steve:  We had our first guests today for a taste test with today's secret ingredient, so I really had to bring my A game.  Luckily, Heather picked an ingredient I was comfortable with and knew exactly how to use it in a family friendly meal.

Day 5 Ingredient: Butternut Squash

I love this vegetable because it is very versatile.  You can cube it, mash it, turn it into a soup or other things.  I forgot to take a picture of the ingredient list for today so lets get to it. 

Day 5 Ingredients:

3-4 lb Butternut Squash
2 lbs ground beef
1 medium yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
15 oz Ricotta Cheese
2 Eggs
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
16 Oz Shredded Mozzerella Cheese
1 Jar Favorite Spaghetti Sauce
1 TBSP Each Oregano, Basil, Parsley
2 Bay Leaves
Salt and Pepper


Instructions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove outer peel from squash.  Divide the Squash into four sections lengthwise and remove seeds and gunk from insides. 

2.  Slice squash into 1/8 inch slices lengthwise.  The best way to achieve this is with a mandolin.

3.  Place slices on sheet pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Set aside.

4.  Dice onion and add to skillet with pinch of salt.  Cook until translucent 3-4 minutes.  Add garlic, ground beef, and spices and cook until browned.  Set aside

5.  In mixing bowl, add Ricotta, Eggs, Parmesan Cheese and mix to combine. Set aside


6.  Time to assemble.  In 9 X 13 inch casserole dish add ladle of spaghetti sauce and spread.  Top with layer of Squash Slices, 1/3 ground beef mixture, 1/3 Ricotta mixture and 4 oz Mozzerella.  Repeat process 2 more times so that you have 3 layers of sauces, squash, beef and cheese. 

7.  Add one more layer of squash, any remaining sauce and last 4 oz of cheese to the top.

8.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Let sit for 10-15 minutes before serving.

What you get is pure deliciousness

Day 5 Meal: Butternut Squash Lasagna

I love this meal.  There is something about substituting the Butternut Squash for the pasta noodles that makes it so much tastier, and healthier.  Think about all the refined carbs I am giving up.  Sure it has a little bit of cheese and the ground beef, but hey, we have to have protein.  I did add some garlic bread to the dish tonight because we had company, but most of the time I wouldn't.  I would probably use ground Bison or ground turkey next time as well.  That would make it even better.  Let's see what Heather thinks.

Heather:
Taste-5 stars: Creativity-5 stars

High rankings, right? I knew we were having people over so I chose something I knew Steve had a recipe for and was well liked. I know some may think this may be cheating, but there were some days last month where I guided Steve with the outfits due to how I was feeling. This was another successful meal and our guests loved it! I like the fact that it's lasagna and it's healthy. I rated it with 5 stars for creativity because who knew you could replace lasagna noodles with squash? I'm not exactly sure if Steve thought of this himself or if he stole the recipe online, but it's very creative. Nobody can ever guess that it's butternut squash.