I’ve been making Pumpkin Lasagna for almost 5 years and it literally changed my life. Ok, not literally, surely, but certainly made an impact on someone who has always loved pumpkin and winter squash. Yep, I’ll go out and say I loved pumpkin and pumpkin spiced foods before it was cool, before Starbucks did Pumpkin Spice and changed the season forever. I grew up in a pumpkin patch. My parent raised pumpkins for sale since I was a baby and are still selling today, only now it’s my little nephew “helping” in the patch instead of me. 

  
Pumpkins, squash, and gourds were a big part of my life and the smell of fallen leaves still reminds me of fall in Minnesota. I’m still baking and cooking with pumpkin whenever I can regardless of season, but I thought it best to share this delicious recipe while most everyone’s traditional pumpkin season lasted. 

This time around, C made the noodles from scratch, but I’ll keep the packaged in the recipe. I also added sage to try – sort of on the fence still… it’s good, but so is the original. 

  
Pumpkin Lasagna

Serves 9-12

Ingredients

• 1 pound 5 ounces (or 21 ounces) fresh mozzarella, divided (I used 12oz preshredded/bagged and 10oz fresh)
• 2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut in a few pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3-4 large fresh sage leaves, lightly chopped (optional)
• 3 cups pumpkin puree (or butternut squash puree)
• 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup (preferably grade B)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• pinch white pepper
• 1 (1 lb) box lasagna sheets

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Shred 12 ounces of mozzarella and mix with the ricotta in a large bowl. Set aside. You can also use bagged preshredded mozzarella for this portion – much quicker and easier. 
3. In a 2 quart pot, melt butter on low heat. Add garlic and sage and brown lightly. Stir in pumpkin, brown sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Stir until it’s all warm. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Smear a thin layer of pumpkin mixture on the bottom of a 9×13 glass baking dish.
5. Place 3 lasagna sheets across. Smooth a layer of ricotta/mozzarella on. Smooth a layer of pumpkin mixture on top. Repeat until you have 4-5 layers of pasta, cheese, pumpkin. (You will use 15 lasagna sheets in total so there may be extra sheets in the box.)
6. Slice the remaining 10 ounces of mozzarella. Arrange in one layer on top. A neat trick is to semi freeze the fresh mozzarella for 30 minutes before slicing – it will be a lot easier. 
7. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes for light browning. Let it rest for 5 minutes before serving.

  
Enjoy!  Look at that creamy pumpkin cheesey goodness. 

*keeps nicely in the refrigerator and can be frozen.