Vegetarian (or not!) Pumpkin Lasagna

Last Friday I was entertaining my Belgian grandmother, who now lives an hour away. She's one of my favorite people...she'll be 90 years old in three weeks, and she continues to inspire me with her energy and love and caring. Gram and I tried out a new recipe together on Friday (before going out to swoon as Tony Bennett crooned!), and we invited friends to try it out with us. YOU try it, and tell me what you think!

Accompanied this week not by a pic of the lasagna (you know what lasagna looks like!) but by a picture of me with my Gram, as I'm so proud of her! Try it out...let us know what YOU think, or what changes you make for YOUR dietary preferences! Happy, YUMmy eating!!

Vegetarian) Pumpkin Lasagna

(adapted from http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/pumpkin-lasagne,

adapted to be gluten free/cow dairy free/sugar free, with a few substitutions and a few additions!)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 8 shallots, chopped

• 2 clam-shell packages (about 10 oz.) spinach (darn...couldn't get to the farmers' market!)

• 2 1/4 teaspoons salt

• 1 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper

• 1 teaspoon dried sage

• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

• 2 boxes pumpkin puree (30 oz., or one 28-ounce can would be fine!)

• 1 1/2 cups pureed silken tofu (just throw it in the blender--or the NutriBullet, as I do--and go! It's a low-fat, high protein substitute for the heavy cream in the original recipe. I suspect that coconut cream would be yummy substitute, as well, though certainly higher in fat.)

• 1 1/2 cups grated or shredded Pecorino Romano cheese (sheep cheese--though you could likely make this dairy free using a substitute like Daiya or other vegan "cheeses")

• 1/2 cup almond milk

• 1 cup walnuts, toasted and crushed (I dry toast on the stovetop until golden)

• 9 gluten free lasagna noodles (I use Tinkyada brown rice noodles, as they hold up well through cooking, refrigeration/freezing for leftovers!)

Cook noodles according to package directions. Tinkyada noodles cook in boiling water for 1-2 minutes, then sit in the water for another 10-15. They hold up well--they won't fall apart, as many gluten free pastas do!

Meanwhile, heat the oven to 400°. Then, in a large nonstick frying pan (I used a large wok, to accomodate all of the spinach!), heat the oil over moderately low heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Increase the heat to moderately high and add the spinach, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 teaspoon sage, and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. Cook, stirring, until the spinach is wilted and no liquid remains in the pan, about 5 minutes.

In a medium bowl, mix together 2 cups of the pumpkin, 3/4 cup tofu "cream," 1/2 cup Pecorino Romano (I used grated here), and the remaining 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 teaspoon sage, and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg.

Pour the milk into an 8-by-12-inch baking dish. Top the milk with one third of the noodles (they will heat the milk and the almond aroma is divine!), then spread half the pumpkin mixture over the noodles. Layer half the walnuts and half the spinach mixture over the pumpkin and top with a second layer of noodles. Repeat with another layer of pumpkin, walnuts, spinach, and noodles. Combine the remaining 1 cup of pumpkin and 3/4 cup of tofu "cream." Spread the mixture evenly over the top of the lasagna, sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup of cheese (I used more coarsely shredded here). Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until golden, about 20 minutes more.

I was a little nervous about this dinner, with so many changes and substitutions from the original recipe. (If you're a meat eater, I've since tested this with crumbled sage sausage in place of the walnuts and it's an awfully yummy substitution!) My peeps are used to eating gluten free with me, but I was especially concerned about the tofu substitution for the cream, as tofu is NOT part of their regular diets! But this dish was a big hit...all asked for this recipe, and my Gram is planning to make it for an upcoming event at her Women's Club!

Our lasagna was accompanied by a salad of mixed baby greens with a bit of salami, olives, pecorino romano, and thinly sliced and wonderfully sweet, spicy peppadew peppers (a bit of balsamic topped it off beautifully!). We paired dinner with a local wine from Hinnant Family Vineyards--a suprisingly wonderful dry, white muscadine wine (suprisingly only in that I'm not a big Muscadine fan in wines, though I love the grapes fresh from the vine!). Visit their website--http://www.hinnantvineyards.com/index.cfm--or better yet, visit them live. It's a delightful place for an afternoon field trip!

Cheers!