Food & Wine's Pumpkin Lasagna with Ricotta & Swiss Chard

I decided to try a little bit different variety of traditional lasagna tonight. I looked for recipes incorporating some of the ingredients in the house like Swiss chard, ground beef, and canned pumpkin. This recipe had rave reviews online and the photo looks scrumptious!

Sauteeing the chard, onion, garlic ©EverydayCookingAdventures 2013

This recipe is vegetarian but I did add about 1/2 lb. of organic ground beef, browned added of time and layered into the lasagna. I didn’t have fontina cheese so I just used the basic shredded mozzarella. I couldn’t stand not adding a little tomato sauce so on the very top of all the layers I spread a very thin layer of tomato sauce (about 8 oz.).

©EverydayCookingAdventures 2013

Pumpkin Lasagna with Ricotta & Swiss Chard ©EverydayCookingAdventures 2013

Well, you can imagine how much lasagna is leftover since this serves 6 people so I’m bringing leftovers over to friends tomorrow. The lasagna melted in my mouth. I used a red onion in it versus yellow so it had a little heat. I’m glad I added the red sauce and the meat because it added a little more flavor. The lasagna could be made again and again with different variations and I loved how colorful it was, red, green, yellow, orange, white. I served it with a basic watercress side salad simply dressed in salt, pepper, feta cheese crumbles, and a light drizzle of Italian dressing. #meatlessmonday #foodandwine #f&w

Pumpkin Lasagna with Ricotta and Swiss Chard

From: Food & Wine Magazine

ACTIVE: 45 MIN
TOTAL TIME: 1 HR 45 MIN
SERVINGS: 6

Ingredients:
1/2 pound lasagna noodles (about 9 noodles)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for tossing
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 pound Swiss chard, stems discarded and leaves chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 – 15-ounce cans pumpkin puree
1/4 cup heavy cream
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of cayenne pepper
2 cups fresh ricotta (16 ounces)
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (about 3 ounces)
1 cup shredded imported Fontina cheese (about 4 ounces)

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the lasagna noodles until just starting to soften, about 3 minutes. Drain well and transfer the noodles to a baking sheet. Toss the noodles with a little olive oil to prevent them from sticking together.
2. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onion and cook over moderately low heat until softened, about 7 minutes.

3. Add the Swiss chard and cook over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until wilted and no more liquid remains, about 8 minutes.

4. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Season the chard with salt and pepper. Transfer to a plate and let cool slightly.
5. In a medium bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, heavy cream, nutmeg and cayenne. Season with salt and pepper. In another bowl, mix the ricotta with the egg, 3/4 cup of the Parmigiano, 1/2 cup of the fontina and 3/4 teaspoon of salt.
6. In a well-buttered, 9-by-13-inch ceramic baking dish, spoon 1/4 cup of the pumpkin mixture in an even layer. Arrange 3 or 4 lasagna noodles in the dish, overlapping them slightly. Spread half of the remaining pumpkin mixture over the noodles in an even layer. Top with half of the Swiss chard and another layer of noodles. Cover with half of the ricotta mixture. Repeat the layering with lasagna noodles, pumpkin, Swiss chard, another layer of noodles and finish with the ricotta mixture.
7. Cover the lasagna with foil and bake for about 40 minutes, until heated through and slightly firm. Remove from the oven and uncover. Preheat the broiler. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of Parmigiano and 1/2 cup of fontina on top of the lasagna and broil about 4 inches from the heat until golden brown and crisp on top, about 4 minutes. Let the lasagna rest for 15 minutes, then cut into squares and serve.

MAKE AHEAD TIP: The unbaked lasagna can be refrigerated overnight. Let return to room temperature before baking.