Forget the Tomato sauce....

Lasagna is a favorite winter dish for many people. It is warm, with gooey melted cheese and it fills you right up after a long day of shoveling out your life post-winter storm in the great state of Taxachussets. This veggie lasagna has been quite a hit recently. Forget the typical spinach and broccoli, this one has a new twist on the vegetable component. Leave the tomato sauce behind too, it does nothing but stain your clothes anyway. Creating a pesto-ricotta mix as a filling layer gives this lasagna a memorable flavor profile.

Give it a shot! Cut up what remains and freeze in Tupperware for an easy nuke-to-table lunch or dinner!

1 - 16 oz box lasagna noodles
1 pint part-skim ricotta
1 pint fat free cottage cheese
1 pound part skim mozzarella cheese, sliced (set aside 6 slices for top)
1 medium butter nut squash
1 cup pesto sauce
4 portabella mushroom caps + stems
2 large cloves garlic
1 cup fine diced red onion
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon dried sage
1/4 cup fat free chicken broth
2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Boil water. Add 1 tablespoon kosher salt. Add noodles to water and stir. Cook about 8 minutes until tender. Strain and rinse with cold water. Lay noodles out in a checker board fashion so they don't stick together.
2. Peel and deseed the butternut squash. Cut up squash and place in pan with steamer lift on bottom. Fill bottom of pot with water, cover with lid. Place on stove and turn onto high. When water boils turn heat down to med-low and let steam until squash is soft. When squash is soft, remove steamer lift from pot and dump squash into food processor. Puree - add salt and pepper and mix again. Then set aside in a bowl.
3. Chop up garlic and onions.
4. Heat oil in large sauté pan over medium heat. Drop garlic and onions into oil and let sweat until translucent. Meanwhile chop up mushrooms. When onions are translucent add mushrooms and stir. Sprinkle with ground black pepper and salt and sage - mix. Cook until mushrooms have released most of their moisture and turned deep brown on all sides (volume will be reduced by at least 1/2).
5. In the food processor, mix the ricotta, pesto, and cottage cheese together. Set aside.
6. Get an 11x13 Pyrex baking dish. Spray with Pam. Sprinkle the chicken broth over the bottom. Lay 3 noodles down, side by side, across the bottom. Top with pesto cheese mixture, then some squash puree, then some of the mushroom mixture. Lay down another three noodles like before. Layer pesto-cheese, squash and mushrooms like before. Then add mozzarella slices. Top with noodles - continue until you have filled the pan. The last layer of noodles should only be topped with pesto-cheese mix and then with 6 slices of mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 50-60 minutes.
ENJOY!!!!