It’s time to feast your eyes because guess who got a new camera. Thank you, you may all welcome me to the DSLR world now; I am the proud owner of a Nikon D3200. Now, to learn how to use this thing. So far, I’ve been using it in “guide” mode and coming up with halfway decent looking photos, mostly ones like the lasagna with lots of pretty bokeh from playing with the aperature and the one of my husband’s model racecars. He liked this one so much he had to make it his Facebook cover image.

This lasagna is the hippie version of meaty cheesy lasagna, minus the meat and cheese part. Instead of meat, we have the ever versatile and tasty butternut squash. This recipe is also great with sauteed dinosaur kale (the darker green and purple one) mixed in. Smoked paprika lends a rich umami-like flavor and my tofu riccotta with extra basil makes this a dish you’ll want to keep in the meal planner all the time.

Ingredients:
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 large jar of marinara sauce
6 gluten free lasagna noodles (like DeBoles)
1/2 bunch of green onions, chopped
2 tbsp olive or coconut oil
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 recipes for my tofu ricotta cheese
1/4-1/2 cups vegetable broth

Preheat oven to 365°. Peel and cube butternut squash, discarding the seeds and stringy part inside. Chop green onions. Add oil to a medium skillet and heat on medium high heat. Sautee butternut squash with onions, garlic powder, onion powder, and smoked paprika, about 5 minutes. Add vegetable broth and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until butternut squash is softened. Remove from heat and carefully (it’s hot) mash with a potato masher or fork. Layer a glass baking dish with marinara sauce first, followed by 3 UNCOOKED lasagna noodles (the DeBoles kind said you don’t have to pre-boil), followed by half the mashed butternut squash, a layer of tofu ricotta and then more sauce. Smooth it around making sure all parts of the raw noodle are covered. Repeat the layer and top with additional marinara. Bake for 45 minutes or until the noodles are done. Mine was perfect at 45 minutes.

Serves 6-8