The Best 4-Layer Healthy Lasagna

For those of you who don't know, I am quite the ingenious inventor when it comes to making healhy recipes (not to toot my own horn, but TOOT! TOOT!). So this morning I thought to myself, "Self, I have this butternut squash, fresh sage, and whole head of cauliflower that I need to use up quickly before it heads to compost land, and a half package of already cooked whole wheat lasagna. Let's get creative!" So creative I got. This is what I came up with:

Layer 1: I peeled my half of my butternut squash and cut it into small cubes along with the whole head of cauliflower so they would cook quickly for me in boiling water. I did this in a large pan on the stove, and I added salt, black pepper, finely chopped fresh sage to taste, a little ground nutmeg, and a little chinese five spice (the five spices are cinnamon, star anise, cloves, and 2 others that I can't remember. Anyway it is a sweet cinnamon-y licorice-y harvest combo. No chinese 5? No biggy. Just sub in A LITTLE cinnamon and clove.) A little goes a long way with the spices, especially the chinese 5. So be light-handed.
Once this mixture was nice and soft, I blended it until smooth in a blender along with some fat free evaporated milk. This adds a creamy texture with a delicate sweetness in the background that blends nicely with the spices. (FF evaporated milk is a great low cal fake out option to use in place of cream or half and half or even milk. Just 25 cal per 2 Tbsp.) Taste it. If is needs more of anything, add more. Layer 1, check!

On to layer 2:
Spray some olive oil cooking spray in a pan and brown up some reduced fat sausage, any kind you like, usually comes in a 12 ounce tube. No need to drain when you use reduced fat. Once browned, take the meat out and add to the hot pan about 1.5 Tbsp butter and make a rue with equal amount of flour, whisking constantly for about 1 minute. Then, while continuing to whisk constantly, add about 1 cup chicken stock and 1/2 cup lowfat buttermilk. (Again, LF buttermilk is a great fake out. Adds creamy texture and a sour cream-like tartness to the sauce. Only 100 Cal per cup. No buttermilk? No biggy. Sub in some FF or LF sour cream for a similar taste and texture.) As your sauce bubbles and thickens, add some ground nutmeg, salt, and black pepper to taste. Add ground sausage back in to white sauce. Taste it. If it needs more of anything, add more. Layer 2, check!

On to layer 3:
The half box of whole wheat lasagna noodles, pre-cooked according to package. Layer 3, check!

On to layer 4:
Shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese. About maybe 1 cup total, more or less depending on how much you like. Layer 4, check!

Okay, got your 4 layers; time to assemble. Get your baking pan, smaller if you want a taller lasagna and bigger if you want a lower lasagna. (The one I used was a 2 L glass pan, about 11 by 6 inches or so. The layers filled it up nicely.) Start with a layer of the butternut squash mixture just so noodles don't stick to the pan. Then add a layer of noodles. Then add some more butternut squash, then the white creamy and sausage layer, then some mozzarella cheese. That is your first round. Now do it again, this time starting with noodles, butternut squash, cream and sausage, cheese. Repeat this process until everything is used or you have no more room in your pan. Add a final layer of the mozzarella so your lasagna looks nice and bubbly when it is all finished. Then cover with foil and bake at 350 about 20 minutes, just to heat everything through and melt the cheese. Uncover for 10 more minutes until the cheese is nice and golden brown and bubbly. LET IT COOL for at least 15 minutes so everything sets up. Serve with a simple mixed baby green salad with low-cal honey dijon salad dressing and enjoy!!!!

And just an extra tip: If I hadn't just ran out of LF cottage cheese, this would have been 5 layer lasagna. Just mix about 1-2 cups cottage cheese with 1 egg or 2 egg whites or egg substitute to help the cottage cheese set. Add this in at whatever part of the layering process you think best! Seriously the lasagna was AWESOME without layer 5 (Ben and our friend Ryan and I thought) but just something to try if ya want!