Butternut Squash & Hazelnut Lasagna

For squash filling:
2 Tbs dried minced onion
3 Tbs butter
3 lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
2 Tbs chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp dried ground sage
1 cup hazelnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

For sauce:
1 clove garlic, minced
3 Tbs butter
5 Tbs flour
5 cups milk
1 bay leaf
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp white pepper

For assembling lasagna:
2 cups shredded mozzarella
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
12 sheets no-boil lasagna noodles

Make filling:
Cook onion, squash, garlic, salt and white pepper in butter over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until squash is just tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in parsley, sage, and nuts. Cool filling.

Make sauce while squash cooks:
Cook garlic in butter in a 3-qt heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring, 1 minutes. Whisk in flour and cook, whisking, 3 minutes. Add milk in a stream, whisking. Add bay leaf and bring to a boil, whisking constantly, then reduce heat and simmer, whisking occasionally, 10 minutes. Whisk in salt and white pepper and remove from heat. Discard bay leaf.

Assemble lasagna:
Preheat oven to 425F. Toss cheeses together. Spread 1/2 cup sauce in a buttered 13x9x2 inch glass baking dish (or slightly deeper pan) and cover with 3 pasta sheets, leaving spaces between sheets. Spread with 2/3 cup sauce and 1/3 of filing, then sprinkle with a heaping 1/2 cup of cheese. Repeat layering 2 more times, beginning with pasta sheets and ending with cheese. Top with remaining 3 pasta sheets, remaining sauce, and remaining cheese.

Tightly cover baking dish with buttered foil and bake lasagna in middle of oven 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake until golden and bubbling, 10 to 15 minutes more. Let lasagna stand 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

Review: I took some short cuts. I bought frozen "cooked squash" in the square packages. Way easier to use, I shaved 10 minutes off of cooking and probably 30 minutes off of prep work! I love butternut squash, but it's a pain to prep if you buy it fresh. And I forgot to toast the hazelnuts, which probably saved 5 minutes! Oops. And I had way too much lasagna for my 13x9x2 pan, which resulted in some sauce going down the drain and some spilling in the oven. Eww. This was a super yummy dish, however, and a nice touch for Christmas dinner!