The Italian Pumpkin Lasagna (Lasagne alla zucca)

Ingredients:

One medium size Pumpkin
1 lb. Lasagna noodles (This may be slightly too much for this recipe)
Goat Cheese
1 Onion, chopped
1 teaspoon Nutmeg
1 cup white wine
1 cup grated mozzarella
1-2 cups Bechamel
Milk, as needed
salt, to your taste

Instructions

Wash the pumpkin and cut its flesh in small cubes, removing and throwing out the rind and the seeds. When buying a pumpkin choose the ones with a vivid orange color, to ensure that the lasagna does not have a "watered down" taste. In a pan pour the pumpkin cubes with a bit of oil and the chopped onion. Start by cooking the pumpkin over low heat and increase the heat gradually as the pumpkin pieces cook. Add a few drops of white wine for cooking. Add a pinch of nutmeg or any other spices you prefer.

If you want to use the no-boiling lasagna noodles, it is always better to boil them nonetheless for a few seconds or minutes. If you do not have time or desire, then you need to make a sauce that would be more liquid, resulting in the noodles boiling in the oven. If you are using the regular lasagna noodles, boil them for about 6-7 minutes as they will finish cooking in the oven.

In a frying pan put a little bit of béchamel (the white sauce) and milk. Put in the sauce the goat cheese, which you will mash with the back of a fork; sprinkle a pinch of salt over. Cook over medium fire long enough to mix the ingredients while not making the sauce too thick. In fact it is a good idea that some lumps of cheese remain to give out that burst of flavor as they are eaten!

Preheat the oven to 300 ˚F. Once the cream is ready then pour a little bit of oil in the lasagna pan to grease it up and continue with a little white sauce then a first layer of lasagna. We continue with some more sauce, pumpkins, one more layer lasagna, sauce, pumpkin, lasagna until you use up all the ingredients. On top of the last layer sprinkle the grated mozzarella.

Put the lasagna in the (preheated) oven at 300 ˚F and bake for about 30 minutes. The dish is best when served very hot. Garnish each plate with a little bit of oil and some fresh rosemary leaves...

Buon appetito!