Winter Squash Lasagna with a sage and pancetta bechamel. OH.

  In my initial post, on sharing, I had roasted a 'new to me' winter squash, just labeled 'sugar squash' at the farm stand where I bought it (let me know if you have another name for it!).very much in my fashion, I am always cooking something for a future use, I saved the squash for an all out glorious Sunday Lasagna. at some point I will post my lasagna with ragu recipe, but for now I want to discuss the making of LASAGNA.
In italy lasagna comes in many forms, the north uses bechamel, parmesan or romano, and a meat sauce (bolognese), the south uses ricotta and a combination of cheeses including mozzarella, and meatballs or sausage, this being the one americans are familiar with. like all of europe, the next town over has it's own special way of making it..and so on.
   If you have never made lasagna with bechamel then you MUST! I do not like ricotta in my lasagna anymore (of course, if YOU made it for me I certainly would enjoy it!) bechamel is creamy, rich and a fabulous place to infuse flavors that might get lost in the sauce part of the lasagna. it is also made with stuff usually on hand, no need to stand over the ricottas thinking "sheesh, this is so expensive.and what big agribuisiness owns this company? how are the cows treated? the organic stuff is a mortgage!" ect.. Most of us have organic milk in house ( but 1/2 and 1/2 is so great for bechamel!  hint ) and flour, butter, garlic.
In this recipe I sauteed pancetta with the butter and garlic, allowing it to turn golden, then scooped it out and set aside. with the milk I added chopped fresh sage and white wine, once it was cooked I added the pancetta back, turned off the heat and let it infuse until I was ready . I think regular bacon would be terrific for it's saltier flavor too. this lasagna is not for the faint of heart or extreme cholesterol count!
Traditional lasagnas also have many layers, with small amounts of filling in between. I usually have 6 or 7 layers! and it's amazing. 


         Winter Squash Lasagna with Sage Pancetta Bechamel


 2 small/medium winter squashes
several cardamom pods (or 1 tsp ground cardamom)
1/2 cup milk
                preheat oven to 400〫 while oven is heating cut tops off squashes and seed them. put 1/4 cup milk and a cardamom pod or 2 in each squash (or 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom in each). Roast squash for 1- 1 1/2 hours, until flesh inside is soft. meanwhile,
prepare the bechamel. (when squash is finished, lower oven temp to 350〫)

3 oz pancetta or bacon, chopped
3 oz butter
1/2 cup flour

2 cloves garlic smashed and chopped
2 cups milk 
2 cups 1/2 and 1/2
at least 1/4 cup white wine (to taste)

3 oz grated romano cheese
a small bunch of fresh sage chiffonade (roll them up together and cut thinly)
8 oz grated mozzarella 

2 large onions, halved and sliced thinly
olive oil
Lasagna sheets (I prefer the no boil type, if you're using regular noodles, put a pot of water on to boil and cook them while making the bechamel. drain, put noodles back in pot with cold water on them) you will need 18-20 sheets

               In a heavy bottomed pot, melt butter. Saute pancetta and garlic until golden, letting the butter become nutty flavored, but not burnt (it will look like your making ghee, a bit foamy.) scoop pancetta and garlic out, as much as you can. add flour,whisking while it cooks for 2 minutes,making a roux. slowly add milk, 1 cup at a time and whisking any lumps out.* Traditional bechamel recipes call for milk or cream to be heated separately before being mixed into the roux, I have never found any difference except more dishes to do.
do this for the 1/2 and 1/2 as well, then add the wine. Let this cook and thicken stirring frequently. stir in the grated romano, sage and pancetta. set the bechamel aside off the heat, make sure to stir it once in a while so a skin doesn't form.
  Heat olive oil in a large frying pan with a lid. Put in onions, turn heat to meduim, cover , sweating the onions with the goal of caramelizing them. stir them often to keep them from sticking. once they start getting a golden tinge, keep the lid off and stir until browned. These onions will be in the lasagna layers.
  Scoop the flesh from your roasted and hopefully cooling squash, stirring the milk in and removing cardamom pods. mash this up well in a bowl.

 assemble your lasagna;  you have a bowl of squash, bechamel, mozzarella, sauteed onions and lasagna in front of you. paying  attention to how much squash and bechamel you have,  place 3 sheets in pan, if using no boil you will be leaving room at the ends for expansion. cover with a thinish layer of squash topped with a layer of bechamel, lay 3 more sheets of noodles, layer bechamel, onions and mozza cheese. then 3 sheets of noodles and squash, bechamel..you continue on this way using your judgment on the amounts,until you've used all the ingredients up. generally I end with a smear of bechamel and some mozza on top. cover with foil, taking care to keep it off the cheese! 

baking times are different depending on the type of noodle used. the no boil takes longer.
bake for 40- 50 minutes with the foil on, check if its cooked  by inserting a knife in the middle, if it meets any resistance then bake longer. once soft, take foil off and bake another 15 min.  Pre boiled noodles take less time, bake for 30 min with the foil and 20 with out.

serve with a big green salad!

NOTE: just found out the squash is also, or most commonly, called Kabucha (nope, not the fermented tea!)
but it does taste chestnut like!