This pumpkin lasagna recipe is a cheesy, veggie-packed lasagna with just enough meat and vegetables to be a whole meal in one pan! Inspired by my pumpkin pasta sauce recipe, this lasagna is one of the best ways to add more veggies to your meals!
1poundwhole wheat lasagna noodles12 noodles* can use Gluten free or other
½poundground meat
½teaspoondried sage
½teaspoondried oregano
1teaspoondried basil
½teaspoonsalt
3cupsthawed or cooked spinach
12-16ouncesricotta cheese
8ouncesmozzarella cheesethinly sliced or shredded
Instructions
Make the Pumpkin Sauce: Warm the oil over medium heat and sauté the garlic until fragrant and tender, about 1 minute. Add the pumpkin puree, milk, salt, oregano, and basil and cook over low heat for a few minutes to marry the flavors, but do not let the milk simmer. Taste and add vinegar or lemon juice at the end to brighten the flavor. Set aside.
For the Lasagna:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and (optional--add lots of salt to the water for more flavorful noodles) boil the lasagna noodles according to package instructions. Drain and lay flat while you prepare the beef and sauce. (If they're curled as they cool, they will be difficult to flatten and layer, but not impossible.)
Brown the beef in a large pan with the sage, oregano, basil and salt. Combine with the spinach and ricotta cheese.
Assemble the Lasagna:
Spread a little pumpkin sauce on the bottom of a 9x13-inch glass casserole dish or cake pan. // Add lasagna noodles to fill your dish. (I did 4 layers of 3 noodles each layer. You can cut the noodles to suit your pan/dish size.) // Add ⅓ of the spinach-ricotta-meat mixture. // Top with more pumpkin sauce.
Add another layer of lasagna noodles // ricotta mixture // and pumpkin sauce. In this middle layer, if you have enough mozzarella, I would add about ⅓ of the mozzarella to bring some gooey cheesiness to the center of the lasagna. Continue layering until you run out of ingredients and/or space. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella cheese over the top of the dish.
Cover and bake on 425ºF for 30 minutes. Remove cover/foil and bake 5 more minutes to brown the top of the cheese. Let cool at least 10 minutes and serve!
Optional: Garnish with grated Parmesan cheese or fresh oregano.
Notes
Don't skip salting the water for cooking the noodles. Adding lots of salt to the water makes for more flavorful noodles.
Lay cooked noodles flat to cool. If they're curled as they cool, they are more difficult to flatten and layer.
Squeeze thawed or cooked spinach. No matter which you use, spinach contains quite a bit of water after cooking. Squeeze it out so you don't end up with a watery lasagna.
Let lasagna sit after cooking. I know you're probably hungry, but give it some time, you will thank me later. This time allows the juices in the lasagna to soak back into the dish making it cut easier and it keeps the layers intact.
Nutrition label below (an estimate) shows 12 servings. This assumes you will have other classic items on the side such as salad, garlic bread, or roasted vegetables. In Italy, many portions of pasta are quite small, like this, because they eat several other items with the meal. Feel free to eat as MUCH or as LITTLE as fits your needs. When we aren't pairing this with other foods, it is closer to 8 servings.