Pumpkin Lasagne

How's that for seasonal cooking?


For the pasta:

3 large egg yolks plus 1 whole large egg
3 tablespoons cold water
1 scant teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups semolina flour
1-2 cups AP flour plus more for dusting

Beat the eggs until light. Add the water and salt. Mix in the semolina, then as much as the AP flour as it will take until you have a very stiff dough. Wrap in clingfilm and let rest 30 minutes.

Divide into 8 pieces, dust each generously with flour and roll out, either by hand with a heavy rolling pin, or with a pasta maker-until quite thin. Let dry on racks-30 minutes each side before cooking.

Cook the noodles in batches (about 5 per batch) in a large pot of salted, boiling water until tender (about 4-5 minutes. Drain Let cool a bit before handling to assemble the lasagne.

For the sauce:

1 medium sized sugar pumpkin to equal 4 cups cooked, mashed pumpkin (if in doubt, make two-it freezes well)
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon ground ginger
4 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups vegetable broth
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 cups drained full-fat (4% ) cottage cheese
4 cups grated Swiss cheese

In a 350 degree F. oven roast the pumpkin. Cut it into 4ths, and place cut side down. Add enough water to come halfway up the pumpkin. This should take about 1 hour. Remove, cool slightly, scrape out of skin and mash in a bowl. Chill until needed. You will need 4 cups of mashed pumpkin total for the recipe.

To make sauce:

Combine pumpkin, butter, ginger, nutmeg, sugar, and broth in a large pot bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer about 10 minutes. Stir in cream. Cool slightly before using.

To assemble:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place a bit of sauce in the bottom of a large pan (I used a 9x13)

Layer on the noodles, then some cottage cheese, topped with a bit of the Swiss. Make another layer of noodles and spread with sauce, repeat until top layer. The very top should have sauce and Swiss cheese only.

Place it all on a baking sheet to catch any spills and bake until bubbly and nicely browned (about 1 hour). Let stand at least ten minutes before cutting.

Makes a whole heck of a lot of food.