Squashtastic

In honor of the fall season, this month's cooking in the hood theme was squash. Without any prior coordination, we ended up each using a different kind of squash, which gave us some excellent variety and also just looked gorgeous.

Since the point of our cooking club is to try out recipes we've never done before, I usually head over to epicurious- my go-to for finding new, unique recipes. I almost always find something delicious, and this time was no different. After searching for squash recipes, I stumbled upon a Butternut Squash and Hazelnut Lasagne that I decided to make for the main course.


This was not the easiest recipe I'd ever attempted- nor was it the cheapest ($10 for a bag of hazelnuts is a bit much), but it was worth all of the effort. I read through the notes (which I always find very helpful) and decided beforehand on a few minor tweaks.

First off, it is much easier to peel and slice butternut squash after microwaving it for a minute or so. Still, slicing such a large, thick vegetable can be a little tough, so be careful!

I used a bit more garlic than it calls for in the roux, added a bit more sage as some of the commentors suggested, and also left all of the hazelnut skins on, toasted them, and chopped them briefly in a food processor. I think it turned out great, and everyone loved it (unless they were just drunk). The additional sage added some wonderful flavor, and I really loved the texture of the hazelnut skins- it gave the dish a really rustic look. I served the lasagne with a Syrah, which worked out very well. All in all, this is an excellent fall rich, flavorful fall recipe that I will definitely be making again, and would highly recommend to anyone else!