Deconstructed squash and sausage lasagna
- Preparation 30 min
- Cooking 40 min
- Servings 4
- Freezing Absolutely
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🍝 The assumed chaos of a reimagined lasagna
I’ve always loved pasta, and I’ve always loved serving it differently. This deconstructed squash and sausage lasagna comes straight from my tome 2, and it was born from a very specific craving: something super comforting, creamy, protein-packed, with the squash that’s been obsessing me forever. Instead of building a classic lasagna with béchamel and 45 minutes of oven time, I break my lasagna sheets into big pieces, cook everything in a single pot, and serve it in 40 minutes flat. It’s beautiful in its chaos, it’s straightforward, and every bite tastes exactly what I wanted: pure comfort.
🍅 Why tomato AND cream together? Because pink sauce is magic
The thing I’ve understood over time is that tomato alone can be acidic and austere, while cream alone can become heavy. The two together form a creamy pink sauce that brings the freshness of tomato and the richness of 15% cream. It’s a balance that many other butternut squash lasagna recipes miss. Mordu does everything with cream, classic recipes go all tomato with béchamel. I merge the two, and that’s what makes this recipe special. The butternut squash melted in this pink sauce with the Toulouse sausage meat, fresh sage and parmesan, it’s a marriage you need to taste to understand.
🍷 The perfect recipe for entertaining or for a Tuesday night with your girlfriend
I’ve made these pasta dozens of times, both for dinner with friends and for a weeknight Tuesday when I want comfort without bringing out the big production. It’s one of the best recipes for entertaining when you want to impress without stress. You prepare everything in 40 minutes in a single pot, garnish with freshly grated parmesan and serve. It’s also a perfect Saturday night recipe with friends with a bottle of Italian red, or a recipe to impress your in-laws without spending the day at the stove. And the bonus: it freezes in individual portions, so you can meal prep for weekday lunches. A dish like this, you don’t have to be shy about serving it to anyone, anytime.
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🔪 Cutting butternut squash like a pro
Butternut squash is hard to cut if you’re not equipped. Use a big sharp chef’s knife and first cut the squash in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds with a spoon, peel with a good peeler (a Y peeler works better than the classic model on squash), then slice into cubes of about 2 cm. The more uniform the cubes, the more even the cooking. And your cubes will caramelize better with the onions.
💧 Pasta cooking water: the secret trick of Italians
Reserving pasta cooking water is liquid gold. This salted and starchy water emulsifies your sauce, makes it silkier, helps everything stick to the pasta. My pro tip: always have too much? Make ice cubes in a tray and freeze them. When you make other pasta recipes during the week, you take out 2-3 cubes and you instantly have starchy cooking water to bind any sauce. It’s the kind of thing that separates a decent sauce from an Italian restaurant sauce.
🍝 The assumed chaos of broken pasta
Breaking lasagna sheets roughly isn’t just for looks. Irregular pieces, small, large, medium, diamond-shaped, torn by hand, creates different textures in the mouth and gives you more surface to catch the sauce. Go for it boldly, no need to be precise. Every bite should be different.
🌿 Fresh sage, non-negotiable
Dried sage, forget it. Fresh sage leaves, added with the sausage meat, release an essential oil that infuses the meat and then the entire sauce. It’s what gives the recipe its “I ate at an Italian restaurant” side, instead of a canned sauce taste. You can also fry 2-3 extra leaves in olive oil to put as crispy final garnish.
🍖 Toulouse sausage, or any Italian sausage you like
If you don’t have Toulouse sausage, replace with mild or hot Italian sausage, Zéro fine sausage or any Italian-style sausage you prefer. The fat from the sausage integrates into the sauce and carries the flavor. Avoid very lean sausages that will give a flat sauce. Always choose a sausage with a good fat percentage.
✅ What to serve with my deconstructed squash and sausage lasagna?
My lasagna calls for simple sides that leave room for the creamy pink sauce. An arugula salad with green onion and lemon vinaigrette brings the perfect bitter punch to cut the fat. For a more generous meal, add my Homemade fresh pasta to mop up the bottom of the plate, or serve with marinated olives and a light Italian antipasto for a real evening with friends. The rule: nothing too loaded, the lasagna does the heavy lifting.
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Ingredients
- 7 to 8 lasagna sheets
- Olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 4 cups (1 L) butternut squash, peeled and diced
- 1 carrot, cut lengthwise in four, then thinly sliced
- Meat from 3 Toulouse-style sausages
- 5 fresh sage leaves
- 1 can (14 oz/398 ml) tomato sauce with herbs and onion
- 1 can (7 ½ oz/213 ml) tomato sauce
- 1 can (5 ½ oz/156 ml) tomato paste
- ½ cup (125 ml) dry white wine
- ½ tsp (2.5 ml) Italian seasoning
- 10 white mushrooms, halved
- ½ cup (125 ml) fresh parmesan, grated + a bit more for serving
- ½ cup (125 ml) 15% cream
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
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Preparation
- In a large pot filled with salted boiling water, cook the pasta following package instructions. Reserve about 1 cup (250 ml) of cooking water. Drain the pasta and cut roughly following the inspiration of the moment, 3 to 4 pieces per sheet, in diamonds or torn by hand, doesn’t matter, we’re going for the deconstructed look. Drizzle with a thin stream of olive oil, mix and set aside.
- In the same pot heated over medium heat, add the onion, garlic, squash and carrot, then drizzle with a good stream of olive oil. Salt and pepper. Cook stirring about 12 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add oil as needed.
- Add the sausage meat and sage, and mix. Cook 5 to 6 minutes breaking the meat into small pieces.
- Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, white wine, Italian seasoning and mushrooms. Salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce to low heat and simmer 10 minutes half-covered.
- Add the parmesan, cream and about ¼ cup (60 ml) pasta cooking water to thin the sauce. Mix and cook 2 minutes stirring.
- Add the pasta pieces and mix well to coat. Add a bit of cooking water if necessary. Garnish with fresh parmesan to taste, and serve.
Absolutely! It’s even one of its greatest strengths. Divide leftovers into individual portions in airtight containers, cool completely before freezing, and store up to 3 months. When serving, thaw in the fridge the night before and reheat over low heat with a drizzle of cooking water (or plain water) to restore creaminess. Perfect meal prep for weekday lunches or rushed evenings.
Toulouse sausage easily replaces with any Italian sausage. Mild for a gentler taste, hot for a bit of heat, or Zéro fine sausages for a finer version. You can also go with fennel sausage if you find it, that gives an even more Italian angle. The important thing: choose a sausage with a good fat percentage, it’s what makes the sauce.
Yes, and it’s even a good way to adapt according to season. Acorn squash works well with a slightly sweeter taste. Hubbard squash gives a similar result to butternut. Avoid spaghetti squash which won’t melt the same way. It stays in strands. Pumpkin also works, but choose a dense-flesh variety like Sugar Pie.
Yes, and the sauce is even better the next day. The flavors have had time to merge. Make the sauce with the squash, sausage and tomatoes until step 4, cool and store in the fridge up to 3 days. On serving day, reheat gently, add parmesan and cream, then incorporate freshly cooked pasta. You save 30 minutes on meal night.
This lasagna is a complete main dish, so sides stay simple. Serve with an arugula and green onion salad with lemon vinaigrette, crusty garlic bread to mop up the bottom of the plate, and some marinated olives on the table for aperitif. A linguine with roasted butternut squash as a mini-portion starter to play the theme if you’re entertaining, and you’re set for a real Italian evening at home.
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