Butternut Squash & Spinach Pin Wheel Lasagna
These lasagna pin-wheels are filled with not one but two delicious fillings. A butternut squash and spinach and cheese filling get wrapped up with the silkiest pasta sheets & smothered in a creamy cheesy sauce. Talk about heaven in a bite.
Butternut Squash & Spinach Pinwheel Lasagna
Run, don’t walk to make these Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups. This is one of my favorite things I’ve ever made and is extra luxurious with the silkiest homemade pasta. The two separate fillings go beautifully together and it gets smothered with a homemade cheese sauce. It is so so good. It’s perfect for Sunday dinner or even to serve on a holiday as a side to the main event.
This whole recipe is a bit time consuming so I recommend breaking the steps up a little bit and making the pasta the night before as well as one or both fillings. The next day all you have to do is roll out the pasta, layer your fillings roll up and cut. I also have some tips for short cuts to make this an easy weeknight meal!
To Make the Pasta - You'll Need
- “00” Flour: This is the type of flour used to make pasta and pizza in Italy. It is very finely ground and made out of durum wheat. You may also see it called “chef’s flour”.
- Eggs: 2 whole eggs + 4 egg yolks
- Olive Oil: 1 Tbsp
- Flour: Using a kitchen scale weigh 196 g of type 00″ flour. Place it in a bowl, pie dish or on the counter and create a well in the center
- Eggs: Crack 2 whole eggs and put 4 egg yolks into the well.
- Oil: Add 1 Tbsp of olive oil into the center with the eggs.
- Whisk: Begin to whisk the eggs and oil beating them until roughly cohesive.
- Combine: Gradually scrape the flour into the egg while continuing to whisk to combine. Once you can no longer whisk start working the dough together with your hands. It will be sticky at first. Continue to incorporate all of the flour and remove any build up on your hands.
- I like to wash my hands at this point to have clean hands before kneading.
- Knead: Sprinkle your work surface very lightly with flour place your roughly shaped dough onto the floured work surface. Lightly dust the top with flour as well. Place the ball of your hand into the center and press down and out. Fold the dough onto itself, rotate the dough a quarter turn. Again press down and out. Fold the dough onto itself and do another quarter turn. Continue to knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is nice and smooth.
- Rest: Wrap the pasta dough in plastic wrap and allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or in the refrigerator overnight before rolling out.
To Make the Fillings & Sauce - You'll Need
Mornay Sauce: A mornay sauce is similar to a béchamel except it has cheese in it.
- Butter
- Shallot: 1 large shallot, chopped.
- Garlic: 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- Flour: 1/4 cup of AP flour to make a roux to thicken the sauce.
- Milk: Whole milk is recommended to make it thick and creamy.
- Nutmeg: Because cream sauces need nutmeg.
- Parmigiano Reggiano: Parmesan works here too.
Spinach & Cheese Filling
- Spinach: 11 oz of fresh spinach or frozen spinach. You’ll need about a cup of when squeezed of excess water.
- Mozzarella Cheese: I always recommend buying the block and grating it yourself because it melts better compared to the pre grated kind.
- Ricotta Cheese: Whole or Part Skim works.
- Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese: We use it in the spinach and cheese mixture and mornay sauce. Parmesan works here too.
- Nutmeg: It adds that little back note that is just so good and comforting. Fresh grated is best but dried is fine.
Butternut Squash Filling:
- Butternut Squash Puree: Peel, cube and roast the squash until fork tender. Then puree in a food processor or blender.
- Mornay Sauce: It’s just our cheesy creamy sauce we make.
Make the Mornay Sauce
- Sweat the Shallots & Garlic: In a medium pot over medium heat, melt the butter and sweat the shallots for about 5 min. Add the garlic for 1 more minute.
- Flour: Sprinkle the flour over the butter and shallots and stir together. Cook for a few minutes.
- Milk & Nutmeg: Gradually add the milk a little at a time while continuing to whisk. Bring to a simmer and cook until it thickens. Add about 1/4 tsp of nutmeg as it’s simmering.
- Cheese: Turn off the heat and stir in 1 cup of the cheese. As the sauce cools it will thicken a little bit more.
Make the Butternut Squash Filling
- Roast the Butternut Squash. Peel, remove seeds and cube the butternut squash. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Puree: Blend the roasted squash in a food processor or blender until smooth.
- Combine 1 cup of the Mornay and 1 cup of the butternut squash puree. Whisk to combine.
Make the Spinach and Cheese Mixture
- Blanch the spinach. In a pot of boiling water submerge the spinach for 1-2 minutes until it wilts and turns bright great.
- Ice Bath: Immediately put the blanched spinach into an ice bath to stop the cooking.
- Squeeze: Using a clean kitchen towel (that doesn’t shed) squeeze as much of the excess liquid from the spinach.
- Blend: In a food processor combine the spinach, mozzarella, ricotta, parmigiano reggiano and nutmeg. Blend until smooth.
Roll out the Pasta Dough
Use a countertop pasta maker or an attachment on your stand mixer if you have one. I just use a countertop pasta maker like THIS. You can also roll it out with a rolling pin, however I have never tried that route.
I like to start rolling out the dough after the filling and sauce has been made so it’s ready to be cooked and made into pin-wheels.
If you want to make them further in advance they can sit at room temperature for a few hours. You can completely dry them out and freeze them as well.
- Divide: Cut the ball of dough in 4 quarters. Keep the rest covered if you’re not working with them.
- Roll Out: Take a quarter of the dough and press it down in the shape of a rectangle. Starting at setting 1, place the rectangle into the slot with the wide end facing down and roll it out. Turn the dial to the next setting 2 (then 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9). Continue to feed the dough through until it gets thin enough to see your hand through. If you want it thicker, by all means stop at a lower setting.
- Not all pasta makers have the same settings. Mine goes from 1-9, 9 being the thinnest.
- Dust: Sprinkle flour on each side of the long sheet of pasta and dust the flour to evenly distribute.
- Cut: Cut each long sheet in half to make two pieces. You should have 12 pieces total.
Assemble the Lasagna Roll Ups
- Preheat the oven to 400°
- Cook the Pasta: Boil the fresh lasagna noodles for 2 minute. Remove using soft grip tongs to prevent them from ripping and lay them out flat.
- Layer:
- Spread one of the prepared fillings over a cooked lasagna noodle.
- Layer another cooked sheet of pasta on top.
- Spread the other prepared filling over top.
- Roll & Cut: Starting at a short end, roll it up into a log. Cut into 3-4 even pieces.
- Baking Dish: Arrange the spirals in a baking sheet cut side up.
- Cheese Sauce: Pour the cheese sauce evenly over the pin wheels.
- Bake: Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes. Optional to sprinkle more mozzarella and parmesean cheese on top halfway through baking.
Short Cuts
By using store bought already prepared ingredients we can turn this into an easy weeknight meal. The store-bought items you can substitute are:
- Lasagna Noodles: Save time making and rolling out pasta sheets and by store bought. Cook them as directed by the manufacturer until al dente.
- NOTES: You may only be able to cut them in 2 pieces once rolled into a log. I’m not sure the total amount you’ll need. Once I try that route I’ll update this section.
- Frozen Spinach: Save time blanching the spinach and buy frozen. You will have to unthaw it and still squeeze out all of the excess liquid. You’ll want about 1 cup of spinach once wrung out, which may require 2 frozen bags of spinach. Again, I will update this section once I try that route.
- Frozen Butternut Squash Puree: Save time prepping the butternut squash and roasting it and buy it completely done for you. Just unthaw and use 1 cup of the puree for the butternut squash filling.
- Alfredo Sauce: Save time making the cheese sauce and buy a pre-made bottle to use instead!
Servings: 4
Equipment
- 1 Pasta Maker Counter Top or Attachment with Stand Mixer
- 1 Food Processor Blender
- 1 Medium Pot
- 1 Sieve
- 2 Medium Bowls
- 1 Whisk
- 1 Liquid Measuring Cup
- 1 Kitchen Scale for measuring out flour & eggs to make pasta
Ingredients
PASTA
- 196 g "00" Flour
- 2 Whole Eggs
- 4 Egg Yolks
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
FILLINGS & SAUCE
- 11oz Spinach Fresh
- 3/4 Cup Ricotta
- 3/4 Cup Mozzarella grated
- 1/3 Cup Parmigiano Reggiano grated
- 1/8-1/4 tsp Nutmeg
- Salt & Pepper
- 1 Cup Butternut Squash Puree
- 1 Large Shallot chopped
- 3 Cloved Garlic chopped
- 6 Tbsp Butter
- 1/4 Cup AP Flour
- 4 Cups Whole Milk
- 1 Cup Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese grated
Instructions
MAKE THE PASTA
- FLOUR: Weigh out the flour using a kitchen scale & place in a bowl, pie dish or directly on a work surface. Create a well in the center.
- EGGS + OIL: Crack 2 whole eggs into the well. Divide 4 eggs, discarding the whites in a separate container (keep for breakfast) and adding the yolks to the flour. Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to the eggs.
- WHISK: Using a large fork begin to whisk the eggs and oil until cohesive. Begin to scrape in some flour to gradually incorporate. When it becomes too thick to whisk begin to use your hands to mix it into a rough dough. It will be sticky, work all of the flour into the dough. I like to wash my hands at this point to knead with clean hands.
- KNEAD: Sprinkle your work surface very lightly with flour. Place the rough dough ball onto the flour and lightly dust the top. Place the ball of your hand into the center and press down and out. Fold the dough onto itself, rotate the dough a quarter turn. Again press down and out. Fold the dough onto itself and do another quarter turn. Continue to knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is nice and smooth.
- REST: Wrap the pasta dough in plastic wrap and allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or in the refrigerator overnight before rolling out.
ROLL OUT PASTA
- DIVIDE: Cut the ball of dough in 4 quarters. Keep the rest covered if you're not working with them.
- ROLL OUT: Take a quarter of the dough and press it down in the shape of a rectangle. Starting at setting 1, place the rectangle into the slot with the wide end facing down and roll it out. Turn the dial to the next setting 2 (then 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9). Continue to feed the dough through until it gets thin enough to see your hand through. If you want it thicker, by all means stop at a lower setting.Not all pasta makers have the same settings. Mine goes from 1-9, 9 being the thinnest.
- DUST: Sprinkle flour on each side of the long sheet of pasta and dust the flour to evenly distribute.
- CUT: Cut each long sheet in half to make two pieces. You should have 12 pieces total.
MAKE THE CHEESE SAUCE
- SWEAT THE SHALLOTS & GARLIC: In a medium pot over medium heat, melt the butter and sweat the shallots for about 5 min. Add the garlic for 1 more minute.
- FLOUR: Sprinkle the flour over the butter and shallots and stir together. Cook for a few minutes.
- MILK & NUTMEG: Gradually add the milk a little at a time while continuing to whisk. Bring to a simmer and cook until it thickens. Add about 1/4 tsp of nutmeg as it's simmering.
- CHEESE: Turn off the heat and stir in 1 cup of parmigiano reggiano cheese. As the sauce cools it will thicken a little bit more.
MAKE THE BUTTERNUT SQUASH FILLING
- ROAST the Butternut Squash. Peel, remove seeds and cube the butternut squash. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- PUREE: Blend the roasted squash in a food processor or blender until smooth.
- COMBINE 1 cup of the Mornay and 1 cup of the butternut squash puree in a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
MAKE THE SPINACH & CHEESE FILLING
- BLANCH SPINACH + ICE BATH: In a pot of boiling water submerge the spinach for 1-2 minutes until just begins to wilt and turns bright great. Immediately put the blanched spinach into an ice bath to stop the cooking.
- SQUEEZE OUT EXCESS LIQUID: Using a clean kitchen towel (that doesn't shed) squeeze as much of the excess liquid from the spinach
- BLEND: In a food processor combine the spinach, mozzarella, ricotta, parmigiano reggiano and nutmeg. Blend until smooth.
MAKE THE PIN WHEELS & BAKE
- PREHEAT the Oven to 400°
- COOK NOODLES: Boil the lasagna noodles for 2 minutes if using fresh pasta. If using store bought follow the instructions from the manufactured for al dente.
- LAYER: Lay out a cooked lasagna noodle and spread a layer of the butternut squash filling overtop. Lay another cooked lasagna noodle overtop and then spread the spinach filling overtop that one. Starting at a short end, roll up it up and cut it into 3-4 pieces.
- BAKE: Place in a baking dish spiral side up and pour the rest of the cheese sauce over the pin wheels. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until bubbling and just starting to brown. (Optional) Sprinkle more mozzarella cheese and parmigiano reggiano to bake.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!