Pumpkin Lasagne Rocks My World

It sounds a little veggie (and I guess it is), but this Pumpkin Lasagne from Food & Wine rocks my world. It's seasonal, savory and so very rife with other alliteratives! The recipe says it serve four, but I think they mean four sumo wrestlers. With sides and stuff, this could easily serve 8.

Chard is sort of unwieldy. It's huge, leafy, never fits in a drawer and gets wilty pretty quickly in my experience. Buy it as close to cooking day as possible, and before you get to chopping it make sure it's rinsed of grit.

Pumpkin Lasagne

(serves 6-8)

2 tbs olive oil

2 onions, chopped

2 lbs chard, stems removed and chopped

1 28 oz can pureed pumpkin

1 1/2 c Parmesan, grated

1/2 c milk

1 package no-boil lasagne noodles (about 9 noodles, or 6 oz)

1 tbs butter

2 1/4 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp dried sage

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400

1) In your largest nonstick frying pan heat the olive oil over medium-low. Add the onions and cook until translucent (5 minutes).

2) Raise heat to medium-high, add the chard with 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp sage and 1/4 tsp nutmeg. Cook until the chard is wilted and liquid evaporates from the pan (it may be necessary to add the chard in batches so the pan isn't overcrowded).

3) In a bowl combine 2 cups of the pumpkin, 3/4 c cream, 1/2 c Parmesan and the remaining spices and seasoning.

4) Pour the milk into n 8x11" baking dish. Top with 3 of the noodles, then spread half the pumpkin mixture over that. Put half the onion and chard mixture on top of that, then top with another layer of noodles. Repeat with a second layer of pumpkin, onion and chard, and noodles.

5) Combine the last cup of pumpkin with 3/4 c cream and spread over the top of the lasagne. Sprinkle with 1 c Parmesan and dot with butter.

6) Cover with aluminum foil and bake 20 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15, until golden.