Butternut Squash and Hazelnut Lasagne

As part of our Thanksgiving feast tonight, I made this butternut squash and hazelnut lasagne to go along with the ususal turkey and all the trimmings. It was a hit! Everyone enjoyed the sweetness of the squash in contrast to the crunchy, aromatic hazelnuts.

To save time, I prepared the white sauce and the squash filling the day before and layered the lasagne just before baking. I also used oven-ready lasagne noodles from Italy (Pastificio Riscossa brand) that I bought at Bosa. They tend to be thinner and more tender than North American brands.

I found that I needed to bake the lasagne for longer than the recipe recommended. Since I hate overcooked cheese, I left the last of the cheese off, covered the lasagne with foil and baked it for 45 minutes. I then uncovered it and topped it with the last of the cheese and some more hazelnuts and baked it for an additional 15 minutes.

Although the recipe indicates that this will make 6 servings, it's rich and will serve at least 8 people as a main course. We stretched it out to 15 servings as a side course. I will definitely cook this again for our vegetarian friends!

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