You’ll note in the ingredients list that butternut squash is used instead of pumpkin. This is often done in the restaurant, food service, and food manufacturing industries, because it is so much easier to work with butternut squash. Mush of what is sold as “pumpkin pie filling” is butternut squash.

Both pumpkin and butternut squash are orange-fleshed winter squash, members of the Cucurbita genus; they look and taste almost identical in recipes. The rest is, as they say, marketing. (Would you rather have a pumpkin pie or a butternut squash pie?)
> The different types of squash.

> The history of squash.
 
 
RECIPE: BUTTERNUT SQUASH & PUMPKIN LASAGNA

Ingredients For 4-6 Servings

Pumpkin lasagna for holiday season. Photo courtesy Elegant Affairs Caterers.

1. PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Place the butternut squash directly in the oven, whole. Bake for 20 minutes or until soft enough to cut in half with little effort.

2. CUT into quarters, place in a baking dish or large cast iron skillet, and roast for 40 more minutes or until the skin can be easily peeled away from the flesh. Cut into chunks about 1/2 inch to 1 inch in size. Set aside.

3. REDUCE the heat of the oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, mix together the pumpkin and the next 7 ingredients (salt through maple syrup). Set aside.

4. STIR together the ricotta, 2/3 of the chopped mozzarella, and 1/4 cup of Parmesan in another small bowl. Set aside.

5. LIGHTLY COAT a baking dish with cooking spray. Spoon 1/3 cup of the pumpkin sauce in the dish. Top with 2 lasagna noodles. Spoon 1/4 of the ricotta mixture over the noodles. Top with 1/4 of the butternut squash chunks. Top with 1/3 cup of sauce.

6. TOP with two more noodles, continuing to layer like this until all the cheese and squash is used. Add last 2 lasagna noodles, and remaining sauce. Dot the top with remaining chopped mozzarella and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan.

7. COVER with foil. Bake for 50 minutes. Let stand, covered, on a rack for 20 minutes before serving.