Butternut Squash Lasagna Goodness

Mmmmmmm, mmmmm, great!  I've made this meal at least half a dozen times in the past three months and love it.  My husband, well he's not a convert yet from traditional lasagna noodles to other, healthier, options.  I really don't miss the noodles and actually prefer the squash to regular noodles.  I've made eggplant lasagna in the past and loved it, but this is even better than that!  I hope you try it and enjoy it as much as I do.

If this was the only meal I could ever eat again, I'd be okay with that! It has amazing flavor with the sweetness of the butternut and the tang of the tomatoes.  I've made this with pizza pork sausage, Italian sausage, and chicken sausage - none of them have disappointed me.  I recommend doubling the meat and sauce if your prefer a more meaty lasagna, but I like it just the way it is as I think the butternut squash and sausage balance each other very nicely. 




Deliciousness right here, folks!!

Paleo Butternut Squash from Health-Bent

1 lb hot Italian sausage, casing removed
1/2 red onion
3 cloves garlic
16 oz jar pizza sauce (I prefer Mid's)
1 roasted red peppers
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
1/4 C couples leaves of fresh basil
1 small butternut squash

Preheat your oven to 400ºF.

Roast your red pepper by placing it on a cookie sheet and turning it until all sides are black and it's sort of collapsed into itself.  Then put in a bowl and cover with plastic which will allow for easier removal of the red pepper skin.  After about 15 minutes, remove plastic wrap and take the skin off of your peppers and pull out the seeds (if a few get left behind, no worries, they get processed)!

In a saute pan crumble the sausage and brown it, along with the onions & garlic. While that’s going, cut the top and ends of the squash off and peel it. Split it into 1/4′s. What I mean by that is, right where the squash starts to turn bulbous, cut it in 1/2, width-wise. Split those two halves in half, lengthwise. This will make it much easier to cut into planks. Pull out the seeds. Don’t be anal about getting out all the strings, as you won’t even notice those when they’re cooked. Slice the squash into the aforementioned planks.

Make the sauce by pureeing the pizza sauce, red peppers, olive oil and basil.

Using a 9×9 oven safe baking dish, put down enough sauce to lightly cover the bottom of the dish. (This keeps the squash from sticking to the pan.) Next add the squash, trying not to overlap the pieces, then spoon on the sausage mixture, followed by the sauce. Repeat until all your ingredients are used up…trying to reserve enough sauce to cover the top of the lasagna.

Bake for 45 minutes. You’re looking for a bubbly pan with a crispy, browned top. Stick a fork into it to check your squash to make sure they are fork tender.

Sausage and Peppers

It has been some time since I posted and a lot has happened, but life is back on the upswing now.  My mom got unexpectedly ill and passed away 31 days after she went to the hospital the first time, from cancer.  Days are and will continue to be hard, but I have faith God will pull us all through this.  It's just my dad and me now.  Of course, the rest of our family, friends, and my husband too, but you all know what I mean.  :)  Words cannot explain the loss of a parent that you were very close too, but I feel blessed that we were so close.  Thankfully I'm just as close to my dad and we are able to share stories and memories.  He's doing pretty good, but I know it has to be more painful to go home to the house they shared without her there.

So, on to happiness! I had some ingredients around the house and threw a delicious dinner together.  I didn't time myself or measure very closely, so feel free to adjust as you see fit.

Sausage & Peppers
1 lb. pork sausage
1 each red, green, & yellow pepper
1 red onion
3 garlic cloves
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
black pepper
splash red wine
olive oil

Clean your peppers and slice into fairly large pieces and quarter your onion seperating the layers. Chop your garlic cloves into small pieces.  When cutting your peppers, slice the top off and pull out the stem.  Save the pepper around the stem b/c it's still good!!

Heat 1T olive oil in a pan and brown your sausage on all sides.  Remove the browned sausage from the pan and set aside.  Deglaze the pan with a splash of red wine (a dry white would work too). Add the peppers, onions, and garlic to the pan and drizzle 2T olive oil over the veggie mixture, add more if needed.  Cook down until soft and starting to become translucent around the edges, which should be about 20 minutes or so, depending on how thick your pepper slices are.  While your peppers are cooking, slice your sausages on a diagonal or regular...the diagonal slice makes me feel like I'm eating at a restaurant.

After the pepper mix is cooked, add one can of fire roasted tomatoes and the sliced sausage.  Simmer for about 15 minutes until the sauce thickens and the sausage finishes cooking.  This was a tasty and easy weeknight meal!  Enjoy!

Note:  You will probably notice that I did not add any salt.  I felt like the tomatoes and sausage contained enough salt that the cooking process didn't require anymore.

Here's a pic of the tomatoes:

My thought for the day is for my momma and anyone who has lost someone they love.

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“You can shed tears that she is gone, or you can smile because she has lived. You can close your eyes and pray that she'll come back, or you can open your eyes and see all she's left. Your heart can be empty because you can't see her, or you can be full of the love you shared. You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday, or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday. You can remember her only that she is gone, or you can cherish her memory and let it live on. You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back. Or you can do what she'd want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.”

David Harkins quotes