Pumpkin Lasagne w/ Turkey Fennel Bolognese

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Pumpkin Lasagne w/ Turkey Fennel Bolognese

This is what I made for dinner last night after wracking my brains about how best to use the free (buy one get one free) ground turkey in the fridge, along with the little sugar pumpkins I bought on Halloween. I wasn’t sure at first how exactly I was going to do it, but then I decided to try to make the center layer just like I would for pumpkin ravioli. It came out so delicious! Yum yum yum!

Heat the oven to 350. Place 2 mini pumpkins in a baking dish, deseeded, quartered and drizzled with olive oil, salt & pepper. Bake for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, In a heavy bottomed pot, brown 1 package ground turkey in olive oil, season w/ salt and pepper. Chop 1 small onion, 1 small bulb of fennel, 2 carrots, and 2 stalks celery w/ celery green included. Once the turkey is mostly cooked, push it to the side and add the veggies and salt and pepper. Saute until the veggies are fragrant.

Now add 1 large can of chopped tomatoes to the meat & veggies, along with 2 crushed garlic cloves and 2 cups or so chicken or veggie stock, 1 tblsp dried basil, and a sprinkle of paprika. I also added chopped parsley and fresh chopped basil because I still have them in the garden. I guess traditional bolognese has red wine. I didn’t have any so I used the stock. The fennel add a very nice aromatic flavor.

Cover it and let it simmer on low to tenderize and bring out all the flavors. (This sauce will be juicy but the extra broth evaporates as the dish bakes.)

Once the pumpkins are cooked, let them cool a bit and scrape them out of the skins. Combine the cooked pumpkin with 1 small container ricotta cheese, 1 scrambled egg, chopped parsley and fresh grated nutmeg and s & p.

Cook lasagne noodles and layer the buttered lasagne pan starting with the meat sauce, then noodles, cheese pumpkin combo in the center, noodles, and finally the other half of the bolognese sauce Top with mozzarella and parmesan cheese or whatever cheese you have and bake at 350 for 25 to 35 minutes until bubbly.