Autumn holiday recipe - vegetarian main course

[ng_moonmoth]

ysabetwordsmith invited readers to share the contents of their (American) Thanksgiving table. When I posted what was served here, they said they would like the recipe for one of the items that was served. Here it is, adjusted to reflect my experiences in preparing a test recipe and making the final version.

The original recipe is "Molly's Pumpkin and Sage Lasagna" from The New Thanksgiving Table by Diane Morgan. When we did a test preparation, we found that we had much more pumpkin than would readily fill just two layers; there wasn't enough ricotta; the whole thing was dry; and the top noodles were Extra Crispy. So I doubled the ricotta and the white sauce to compensate. Adjustments are noted by [in practice].

I have also reorganized the recipe to reflect how I put the whole thing together. Starting with all the ingredients in their original state, it took me about 2 hours to assemble the pan. The recipe notes that that can be done the day before and the pan placed in the refrigerator -- which I did.

Subassemblies:

Herb-Infused Milk
Wrap:

• 1 bay leaf
• 6 black peppercorns [in practice, 12]
• 2 sprigs fresh Italian parsley [in practice, 3]
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme [in practice, 3, or add 1 tsp dried thyme to milk]

in a square of cheesecloth and tie to form a bag. Place in:

• 3 cups milk [in practice, 6]

[recipe] and heat over medium-low heat until hot. Then simmer for 2 more minutes.
[in practice] cook in microwave oven for 4 minutes at full power. Milk should be scalded by then (hot, and with bubbles around the edge, but not boiling).
Remove from heat and let steep while preparing other subassemblies.

Start a pot with a goodly amount of water in it to cook the lasagna noodles now.
Peel, cut open around the circumference, and remove the seeds from:

• 1 2-pound or so sugar pie pumpkin.

Set the open side of each half on the cutting surface and slice into thin (1/8 to 1/4 inch) slices.

Ricotta Filling
Mix:

• 1/2 cup [in practice, 1 cup] minced Italian parsley

Into:

• 1 pound [in practice, 2 pounds] part-skim ricotta cheese

Flash-Fried Sage Leaves and Sage Oil
In a large skillet, place just enough high-smoke-point oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Heat until hot but not smoking. In batches that will leave plenty of space around the leaves, quickly fry:

• 1/2 cup fresh sage leaves

just until it stops sizzling -- 5 seconds or so -- and remove to a baking sheet lined with a double thickness of paper towels. Save the skillet and the oil for the pumpkin slices.

Lasagna Noodles
When the water in the pot is boiling rapidly, put in:

• 1 pound lasagna noodles

Stir to submerge all the noodles, and cook as directed on the package. When cooked, drain noodles, and as soon as they can be handled, drape them around the rim of the pot so they will be flat and not stick together. Meanwhile, prepare:

Sauteed Pumpkin Slices
In the skillet and with the oil that was used to fry the sage leaves, over medium-high heat, place enough pumpkin slices to leave some space around them. Saute on each side just until the edges begin to brown (a minute or so per side). Add more oil as needed to keep a thin film on the bottom of the skillet as you saute all the slices. Remove the sauteed slices to a baking sheet lined with a double thickness of paper towels.

White Sauce
Saute over medium heat:

• 1 large clove of garlic [in practice, 2, or more if you like garlic]
• 1 small yellow onion [in practice, 1 large yellow onion]

in:

• 3 tbsp unsalted butter [in practice, 6 tbsp]

for a couple minutes, until translucent.
Mix in:

• 3 tbsp flour [in practice, 6 tbsp]
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg [in practice, 1/2 tsp]

and make a roux (stir into the butter and cook until the mixture is smooth and bubbling).
Remove the herb bundle from the herb-infused milk, and slowly add it to the mixture, stirring constantly.
Once all the milk has been added, bring to a simmer and cook, stirring or whisking constantly, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add salt to taste, if desired.

Assembly:

Grate:

• 1/2 cup [in practice, 1 cup] freshly grated Parmesan cheese, of whatever quality you fancy

Use a lightly greased 13 x 9 inch pan. You should have six layers' worth of noodles at 3 noodles per layer.
Here is where [in practice] diverges from the recipe as written. The five filling layers specified in the recipe contained, in order: half the white sauce; half the pumpkin sprinkled with half the sage leaves; all the ricotta; the rest of the pumpkin and sage leaves; the rest of the white sauce; and the top layer was sprinkled with all the Parmesan cheese. Here's the revised stacking order:
Cover the bottom of the baking pan with three noodles. Cover the noodles with a thin layer of white sauce.
Add another layer of three noodles. Put a single layer of pumpkin slices on top. Crumble about 1/4 of the flash-fried sage leaves over them. Spread about 1/4 of the ricotta cheese over that. Spoon enough white sauce over that to cover everything. Sprinkle with a healthy portion of Parmesan
Do that three more times. You should now have all the pumpkin, sage, and ricotta in the pan, and still have about 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan and a cup or so of white sauce.
Put the last set of noodles on top. Distribute the remaining white sauce over all. Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan over that.

Cooking:

Bake at 350F for one hour. Remove from oven and let rest for at least 10 minutes. Recipe says, "serves 8-10", but this properly abundant recipe will easily provide 12 entree-sized portions.