Pumpkin lasagna
Ready in
3 Ours
Preparation
1h 30 min
Cooking
1h 30 min
Portions
6 Person
Cost
cheap
difficulty
medium
Italian Lasagne
Pumpkin Lasagna
Pumpkin and minced meat lasagna is one of the many lasagna you can find on my blog. Soft and creamy, I call it the younger sister of the classic Bolognese version but, many consider it better, not to dispel the myth, simply because, being very similar, in this version you have the opportunity to enjoy a white lasagna, rich in proteins and with a young flavor. The secret of this lasagna is not the ragout but the pumpkin béchamel which is decidedly different from the others, a Mediterranean scent that tells the whole world of my Cilento land. The recipe for pumpkin lasagna, simple and genuine, was born on an autumn day to celebrate Thanksgiving with some American friends, but it also wants to be a tribute to my many relatives and to all the Cilentans who emigrated to the Americas.
Ingredients
Bechamel
- 500 g pumpkin
- 200 g Onion or shallot
- 60 g butter
- 150 g peeled tomatoes
- 100 g flour 00
- 50 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1 L milk
- 200 ml water
- 1 chili pepper
- 1 cucchiaino nutmeg
- j.e. salt and pepper
Lasagna
- 500 g precooked lasagna
- 600 g minced veal or beef
- 200 g grated Parmesan cheese
- 500 g mozzarella o fior di latte cheese
- 50 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion or 2 shallots
FOLLOW US
[et_social_follow icon_style="slide" icon_shape="rounded" icons_location="top" col_number="6" outer_color="dark"]
Directions
Remove the seeds and peel from the pumpkin and cut into cubes
Clean the onion and cut it into a filanger
In a large pan, sauté the onion with the oil, the chilli and a pinch of pepper
When the onion is golden brown, add the peeled tomatoes cut into small pieces and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes
Put the pumpkin, add salt and cook with lid for 10 minutes, always over moderate heat and stirring often, so that it does not stick
Pour in the water, cook for another 10 minutes or until the liquid has dried. When cooked, the pumpkin should be soft but not brothy nor dry
Put the pumpkin in a tall bowl or saucepan, add 500 ml of milk and blend well with the immersion mixer, it must be like a cream
Put the flour and nutmeg in a large saucepan that can also contain the pumpkin, add the milk slowly and at the same time with the whisk mix the flour so that no lumps are formed
Pour the pumpkin into the saucepan with the milk cream made previously, add the butter and a pinch of salt
Put the saucepan on the stove and cook over moderate heat, always stirring with a wooden spoon. When the first bubbles begin to come out, it is cooked, turn off and let it cool
In a pan, fry the onion with the oil and pepper, then add the minced meat, add salt and cook for 10 minutes
In a baking dish or lasagnera, butter it and pour a large ladle of béchamel with pumpkin, so that you can cover the entire bottom of the pan and start making the first layer.
Put the lasagna, without overlapping them and cover the entire bottom of the pan, put the béchamel, always abundantly, then, make a layer of minced meat, one of mozzarella and one of parmesan
Continue to make other layers the same as the previous one until the pan is filled. Stopping three centimeters from the edges and on the surface, put only the béchamel and parmesan. This way you will get a crunchy, unburnt crust
Bake at 180 °C (350 °F) in a preheated static oven and bake 30 minutes or until a golden crust has formed
Remove from the oven and let it rest for 5 minutes before making portions, in this way the lasagna does not flake and serve immediately
Tips
- I recommend using the Vatolla onion because it is very sweet and does not make you tear, alternatively use the shallot.
- Pre-cooked dry lasagna needs a lot of liquid, otherwise, after cooking it becomes dry and sticky, so be generous with the béchamel.
- When making lasagna layers it is important to stop three centimeters from the edges, otherwise the liquids will escape when cooked.
Storage
- Pumpkin lasagna can be kept for up to 2 days in the fridge and should always be eaten hot.
Equipments
- Vegetable knife
- 2 pans
- Oven
- Cooker
- Lasagniera or baking dish of 30
- Immersion mixer
- Casseroles
- Wooden shovel
- Chopping board
- Ladle for broth
- 2 tbsp
- 3 bowls
