Butternut squash and miso mushroom vegetable lasagne with curly kale and rosemary

At the moment I struggle to go past a grocery store without buying some vegetables. Winter salads are much harder to make than the light and easy throw-it-together summer versions, but I love the challenge winter salads provide; to come up with something new.

I recently made a lasagne for a friend’s family. It was the full whistles-and-bells version laden with ricotta, cheddar cheese, meat and pork mince and bacon lardons... and it tasted incredibly good. I have experimented with a butternut squash lasagne and sweet potato lasagne in Fast, Fresh and Easy Food using a ricotta, egg and parmesan mix as an easy white sauce. I have been looking for ways to make a really light version for another variation.

I have decided to make the bulk of the lasagne from some organic chestnut mushrooms and some Portobellos. Some butternut squash in the very back of my ridiculously tiny fridge provided the ‘layers’ to which I will built this lovely lasagne experiment.

For some protein, consider mixing some beans or some tofu in with the mushrooms to bulk this meal up a bit. This could be a novel side dish for something else also. This only serves one, but it can easily be doubled or quadrupled for however many people you need to feed. I would say that one bulb (the rounded end only) of butternut squash will do for two people - you can get about 6 slices out of that.

I used regular butter, but oil or dairy-free soy spread would make this dish suitable for vegans. I tried to eat this dish in a way which would retain its Pisa like stature, but after one mouthful Pisa turned to Pompei and it collapsed in a heap on the plate.

A deconstructed version can be made by putting the mushrooms and squash in a Tupperware container to take to work to munch on at your desk.

Do let me know how you get on with this and I am always open to new ideas of how to make improvements and/or different variations.

Enjoy. LP xxx

INGREDIENTS

About 3 rings from the bottom of a butternut squash, seeds and stem removed

300g of chestnut mushrooms

2 portobello mushrooms

2 tsp of fresh rosemary, finely chopped

1 tsp of fresh thyme, finely chopped

pinch of salt

pinch of chilli flakes

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 handful of curly kale, woody stems removed

1 handful of pumpkin seeds

oil, (I used avocado oil)

butter or a vegan alternative if you prefer

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Start with the butternut squash rings. I had already used up the oversized-phallicy-end-thing for my slow cooked lamb with soy and honey. It is a little fiddly to cut the squash in to rings which are the same thickness all the way around, but I found a steady hand and a sharpish knife did the trick. Then lay them out on a foil-lined tray, drizzled with some oil and a little salt. Then bake them for about 15 minutes or so, until just going tender.

Meanwhile, chop up the mushrooms. In the pictures I went a bit AWOL and chopped up far too many. So don't worry, yours will not look as much as this.

Then chop up your Portobellos.

Throw the mushrooms into a medium sized pot with a little butter (regular) or butter (vegan).

Add some garlic...

... Along with the rosemary and the thyme.

Cook this for about 10 minutes until the mushrooms are wilting and reducing down. I found I had a fair amount of liquid left in the mushrooms after 10 minutes and did not want to cook them down any further, so I poured out the excess liquid into a ramekin.

This mushroom liquid tastes delicious and you could use it at a later date to flavour stocks and sauces, or just pour it back over your mushroom lasagne when you are ready to serve. After removing your excess 'shroom liquid, add 2-3 tbsp of white miso paste and mix it all together.

Then add a couple of handfuls of curly kale and gently stir through.

Let this sit off the heat for a moment or two and the residual heat will very lightly allow the kale to tenderise a little (but I do love the bite that kale has to it). Remove the squash from the oven and set it aside. Take one of the squash rings. I picked this one as it looked a bit dodgy and the bottom was the best place to hide it.

Then pile the mixture within the hole and around the squash, which serves to hide the less than pretty bit very well.

Then carry on with another layer...

And then one more layer and sprinkle some pumpkin seeds on top.

Enjoy. LP xxx