Butternut Squash & Chard Lasagna

This month’s issue of Cooking Light is killing it. Granted, it could be the preggo hormones talking, but I dog-eared almost every single page in the magazine when I got it.

Not that you asked, but here are my general thoughts on Cooking Light:

CL to me = what I imagine Pinterest is to other people. (Pinterest is far too complicated for me to ever figure out.) Take the recipe and then add your imagination (and more butter). Also, I will never use anything but full fat ricotta. So, of course this “lightened” vegetarian lasagna is really just vegetarian lasagna. Still, way to go, CL.

Butternut Squash & Chard Lasagna

3- 4 cups cubed + peeled butternut squash
approx 1 cup veggie broth
1 cup milk
5 garlic cloves
salt, pepper
dash nutmeg (really, small dash – I find nutmeg overwhelming)
1 cup shredded Gruyere/Swiss
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 onion, chopped
2 boxes mushrooms, sliced
1 big bunch Swiss chard or other leafy green
half box no boil lasagna noodles
a little less than a cup ricotta cheese
parsley

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Combine squash, broth, milk, and garlic in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and then simmer until squash is tender (about 20 minutes). Remove from heat.
Place squash mixture in a blender OR – use your immersion blender!! Add salt, pepper, and nutmeg and blend until smooth. Add the Gruyere and about half the mozzarella to the mixture; stir until it melts all the way in.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion and mushrooms; cook about 5-7 minutes or until browned and liquid evaporates. Add chard and a splash of broth. Cover and cook until chard wilts. Drain the mixture – you want all that excess moisture out of there.
Spread about a cup of the squash sauce in bottom of a glass/baking dish, arrange noodles over the sauce, and top with half of the the chard/mushrooms. Dollop and spread a bit of ricotta all across. Then, repeat the process – squash sauce, noodles, chard mixture. Then, more squash, and finally, mozzarella cheese (and parm, if you feel like it).
Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 375 for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake another 10 minutes – and then turn the heat up and broil the whole thing for the last 3 minutes. Serve topped with parsley..and a side salad to cut all that cheese!