Need a delicious and fancy-looking dinner? Butternut squash and bacon lasagna roll-ups will please even the pickiest of eaters! These lasagna roll-ups have a butternut squash and bacon filling and are topped with a shallot cream sauce – they are delectable!
Ahhh spring. It’s so close I can almost feel it. Aside from our little 9″ snowfall last week, the temperature has been getting warmer (and when I say “warmer”, it’s been in the 30’s..) and I’m been ditching my winter coat for my lighter spring jacket. Spring is also so close I can almost taste it…artichokes, asparagus, lemon, peas… But this weekend when I thought about all of the winter vegetables I love (we’re talking squash here) I had a little moment of panic. I haven’t cooked enough squash yet! I had all these plans to make something wonderful with spaghetti squash and fully intended to make my favorite Cornbread Pudding Stuffed Acorn Squash but never got around to it. And though I am on the verge of turning orange from all of the butternut squash I have eaten, I’m still not sick of it. So I stocked up on squash, maybe one last time until the fall, and decided to make the most of it.
I had originally intended to make regular lasagna with the butternut squash but since Marc was working I was only going to be cooking for myself. I probably don’t need an entire lasagna (want? yes. need? no.), so I decided to make a meal that was solo-dining friendly. Enter: these cute little butternut squash and bacon lasagna roll-ups. Aren’t they adorable?! They are pretty simple to make, too. While they are, like I said, good to make when you are serving only one or two people, these would also be perfect to serve to a crowd. The filling could easily be made ahead of time, and the roll-ups are pretty easy to assemble.
And then there’s the sauce. Mmm the sauce. When I originally set out to make these, I didn’t even think about what sauce I was going to pour over them. I ended up making a simple shallot-cream sauce, but instead of using cream I remembered a little tip from my mother-in-law and used low-fat evaporated milk to cut some calories. Worked like a charm. And if you like things extra “saucy” I would recommend doubling the sauce portion of the recipe…I definitely wish I had.
This recipe for butternut squash and bacon lasagna roll-ups could also easily be made vegetarian, by simply omitting the bacon, and I think they would still be delicious!
Like this recipe? Then you’ll love these, too:
Butternut Squash and Bacon Macaroni and Cheese
Butternut Squash and Gouda Tortellini
Butternut Squash Stuffed Shells with Brown Butter and Sage Sauce
Ingredients
for the filling:
- 4-5 slices of bacon
- 2 shallots
- 8 cups cubed butternut squash about 1 large butternut squash
- 1 tsp dried sage
- 2/3 cup ricotta cheese
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/4 tsp salt
for the sauce:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 shallots diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 cup evaporated milk or heavy cream
- 1/4 tsp salt
for the pasta
- 10-14 lasagna noodles cooked al dente according to package
- 1 cup shredded Italian cheese mix
Instructions
to make the filling:
- In large skillet, fry bacon until crispy.
- Remove from skillet, and set aside, keeping about 2 tbsp of bacon grease in skillet. (If not using bacon, just heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in large skillet)
- Add shallots and cook over medium heat for 1 minute.
- Add butternut squash and sage and cook over medium heat for 10-12 minutes, until squash is tender. I covered the squash for about 5 minutes to let it "steam."
- Place squash in large bowl and mash with a potato masher.
- Mix in ricotta cheese, milk, salt, pepper, and diced bacon. Set aside.
- This would be a good time to cook the lasagna. Once cooked, keep the noodles in a large bowl of cold water to keep them from sticking to each other.
to make the sauce:
- Heat olive oil in small saucepan over medium heat.
- Add shallots and saute for 2 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook one more minute.
- De-glaze pan with wine, scraping up loose bits.
- Add evaporated milk or cream and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
to assemble:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Spray 9x13" or similar sized baking pan with cooking spray.
- Spread about 1/4 cup of filling along each lasagna noodle, leaving 1/2 inch border on each end.
- Roll up noodles and place rolls either upright, making sure they are snug, or with seam side down.
- Pour sauce over roll-ups and sprinkle with cheese.
- Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until cheese is golden brown.
- Enjoy!
These look delicious– I will definitely be bookmarking this recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Anne!
This looks amazing! I love squash and have never thought to put it in lasagna before. Adorable little roll-ups 🙂
Wow this looks incredible. Lasagne always seems like a complicated dish but Lasagne roll ups seems so much more manageable 🙂
Have favourited this recipe and going to give it a go once the weather turns cooler here.
First of all – this recipe looks to die for. Second – I totally ditched my big jacket for my light spring one and was SHOCKED to step outside this morning to snow. I seriously thought MN got the memo that it was SPRING!!
So was I!! I had no idea it was going to snow….and we’re in a Winter Weather Advisory tomorrow?! What. the. heck.