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Pumpkin-Stuffed Lasagna Rolls |  |
A festive vegetarian main dish, perfect for Thanksgiving or another late-fall or winter celebration. Worthy of a special occasion, easy enough for a weekend! The pumpkin filling is not to be missed, in itself so good, I can already think of a half-dozen more ways to cook with it.
Plus, my tips for an angst-free Thanksgiving.
Aghast at the angst, that’s me about Thanksgiving. Take a deep breath. It really can be as simple as inviting a few people for dinner, cooking a turkey and a few sides, popping a pie in the oven. The magazines, the food network, even we food bloggers, we get so breathless over Thanksgiving, making it all seem like a huge undertaking.
But Thanksgiving isn’t hard, at least it needn’t be with a little preparation. List makers, this is your holiday! Here are my own tips for an angst-free Thanksgiving.
WEEKEND BEFORE Finalize the menu, print out recipes, make the grocery list. Shop! before the onslaught.
MONDAY Set the table. Put serving dishes on the table or sideboard, with serving utensils alongside. For hot dishes, put trivets or silicone pads underneath. Use yellow sticky pads to mark what goes where.
TUESDAY Make a big pot of soup for Wednesday night. After cooking all day, you don’t want to end up with nothing to eat! Empty the dishwasher and remove clutter from the counters.
TAKE WEDNESDAY OFF Make Wednesday the primary cooking day, cooking all the sides, making the pie crusts, everything that can be done ahead of time. Even dishes that can’t be finished until Thursday can often have multiple steps done ahead of time. All my Thanksgiving recipes have make-ahead tips, now you know why! Get a good night’s sleep!
THURSDAY Eat breakfast. Take a deep breath and have a little fun. It’ll get done. The turkey will be moist. Potatoes are better with a few lumps! It’ll all get to the table at roughly the same time. And if it doesn’t? NO BIG DEAL. It’s just one meal out of a thousand during the year.
GIVING THANKS What are you thankful for? I love this idea from Young House Love for creating a “Jar of Thanks” throughout the week. Just a jar or a basket with slips of paper would be wonderful. Kids with Thanksgiving stickers? Go crazy. It’s the thought – the thanks – that counts.
PUMPKIN-STUFFED LASAGNA ROLLS Oh my! These are so good, the filling tastes so sweet and pumpkiny straight off the spoon. It takes less than an hour to make them, the hardest thing is cooking the lasagna noodles!
RIFFS This recipe has my mind a-buzz. For the first time, I’m inspired to try making my own pasta! Thin fresh pasta would be amazing. Or – I can imagine three layers of no-cook lasagna sheets in a 9x9 or 9x13 pan, maybe with a layer of nutmeg-scented béchamel and another of goat cheese with fresh herbs. Or – I can imagine substituting plain cream with a pumpkiny cream sauce, adding color and reducing the richness. Or – I can imagine using the filling in my grandmother’s recipe for potato blintzes. Or – and you, are you inspired too? Leave an idea in the comments!
Do you have a favorite vegetarian Thanksgiving recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. Follow Kitchen Parade on Facebook! PUMPKIN-STUFFED LASAGNA ROLLS
Time to table: 90 minutes
Makes 9 rolls
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LASAGNA
- Water
- 1 tablespoon table salt
- 9 lasagna noodles
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PUMPKIN STUFFING
- 1 large egg
- 1-1/2 cups (about 12oz/340g) cooked pumpkin (see TIPS)
- 2/3 cup (35g) grated Parmesan
- 1/4 cup (30g) finely ground almonds or almond meal
- 1/4 cup (25g) panko (what is panko?)
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (don’t skip!)
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon dried sage, oregano or another autumn-ish herb
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
-
TOPPING
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 2/3 cup (35g) grated Parmesan
- Fresh herbs for garnish
Preheat oven to 400F. Butter a 9x9 baking pan or a quiche pan.
LASAGNA In a large pot, bring plenty of water to a boil. Add salt and lasagna noodles, cook until done (check the package for timing). Arrange in a colander to drain well, the noodles are much easier to handle if dried well.
PUMPKIN STUFFING Whisk the egg in a large bowl. Stir in remaining stuffing ingredients.
STUFF (how-to photos below) On a work surface, lay out a noodle. With a knife, spread about 1/4 cup (50g) filling along the noodle, stopping an inch or so short of a short end. With your fingers, carefully roll the noodle, compacting the filling without squeezing it out the sides. Arrange noodles in baking pan, seam side down.
TO MAKE AHEAD If making ahead, stop here. Cover and refrigerate. Before baking, return to room temperature.
TOPPING & BAKE Pour cream over noodles, sprinkle with grated Parmesan. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes until cream is bubbling and cheese is beginning to brown.
TO SERVE Sprinkle with fresh herbs and serve immediately.
ALANNA’s TIPS For these lasagna rolls, I used the wonderful Homemade Kabocha Squash Pumpkin Purée from the freezer. But if there’s no pumpkin on hand, roast one or two whole butternut squashes (see How to Roast a Whole Butternut Squash). I don’t recommend using canned pumpkin purée, I have the idea it would be too watery and too tasteless.
DISCLOSURE My Disclosure PromiseHow to Make the Lasagna Rolls
It's easy to spread the pumpkin stuffing onto the lasagna rolls. The noodles themselves are easier to work with when they're well drained and not wet and slippery. When spreading the filling, stop short at one end so that it doesn't squeeze out during rolling.
This Week, Years Past
Light & Fluffy Homemade Whole-Grain Bread & Buns
Vegetables That Shine for Thanksgiving
from Kitchen Parade
~ World's Best Green Bean Casserole ~
(this is the famous fresh green bean casserole!)
~ Slow Cooker Sweet Potatoes with Cranberry & Orange ~
~ Creamy Carrot Purée ~
~ Favorite Recipes for Thanksgiving's Favorite Vegetables ~
from A Veggie Venture, my food blog
More Vegetarian Entrées for Thanksgiving
~ Acorn Squash with Quinoa & Dried Cherries ~
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~ Farro Risotto with Butternut Squash & Mushrooms ~
~ more Vegetarian Entrees for Thanksgiving ~
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This I HAVE to make! The noodles are so pretty, all stripey like. I generally use the oven-ready plain ones. Happy Thanksgiving and I sure am thankful for the recipes and ideas you generously share!
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a terrific recipe. I really like the idea of substituting butternut squash - and you certainly are the authority of that subject!
ReplyDeleteAnd agree with not over-stressing on Thanksgiving. It's actually my favorite meal of the year to cook! And one of the easiest - I do many of the same dishes every year, so once you learn them, you can do them almost in your sleep. (OK, I do rotate some dishes; but not the "basics.") I think a lot of people get concerned about timing everything - but most of the dishes can easily rest for a few minutes before they go to the table (and the turkey needs at least 20 minutes before carving), so you have some fudge factor in getting everything ready at the same time.
Anyway, good post. And I really like the picture of the pumpkin stuffed lasagna rolls!
I made this... Used butternut squash. It was delicious. Since I had the oven on I also roasted a couple bulbs of garlic and threw 3 cloves roasted garlic into the filling. Super yummy! Thank you!! I used light cream, which was fine.
ReplyDelete