Easy Pumpkin Lasagna Recipe

Changing weather and shifting seasons present great opportunities for experimenting in the kitchen. Once fall rolls around, there's one ingredient that's on everyone's mind: pumpkin. But in a world of pumpkin baked goods and PSLs, I opted to showcase the autumnal gourd in a more savory, dinner-friendly setting with this easy pumpkin lasagna recipe. Sensationally savory, super cheesy, and chock-full of fall flavors and ingredients, this lasagna showcases pumpkin in all the right festive, cozy ways.

I'm a big fan of lasagna in all its iterations, and while it's hard to compete with that classic red sauce formula, it is admittedly fun to play with alternative ingredients to create something surprising. I also love how easy this recipe is to make, largely thanks to my semi-homemade hack using store-bought Alfredo sauce (instead of crafting your own béchamel or cream sauce) and canned pumpkin puree. We really layer in the flavor, adding grated Grana Padano, fresh sage, garlic, shallot, and white wine-spiked kale. The resulting lasagna has a great balance between sharp and twangy elements and that earthy-sweet pumpkin. The recipe as a whole offers a much easier approach than your average from-scratch pasta dish, but it doesn't shirk any gourmet appeal.

This recipe starts with making a simplified pumpkin ricotta mixture, for which you'll need whole milk ricotta, pumpkin puree, grated Grana Padano (or Parmesan), an egg, freshly chopped sage, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Next, for the white wine-spiked kale layer, reach for olive oil, minced garlic, minced shallot, lacinato kale (aka dinosaur kale), white wine, salt, and crushed red pepper flakes. 

To assemble the pasta dish, make sure you have plenty of al dente-cooked lasagna noodles on hand to start. Then, you'll just need jarred Alfredo sauce, grated mozzarella cheese, grated fontina cheese, grated Grana Padano, and fresh sage leaves to garnish. 

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Spritz a 13x9-inch casserole dish with cooking spray.

Make the pumpkin ricotta by placing the ricotta, pumpkin, grana padano, egg, sage, salt, black pepper, and nutmeg in a large bowl.

Whisk to combine the mixture, cover, and refrigerate until ready to use.

To make the kale, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Once hot, add the garlic and shallot, and saute for 2 minutes.

Add the kale to the skillet, working in batches if necessary, and stir to combine.

Once the kale has begun to wilt, deglaze the skillet with wine, and bring to a simmer.

Saute the kale for 3 to 5 minutes or until it's tender-crisp and the wine has mostly evaporated. Season with salt and crushed red pepper flakes. Set aside.

Place the mozzarella, fontina, and Grana Padano in a large bowl. Toss to combine.

To assemble the lasagna, spoon ⅓ cup of the Alfredo sauce into the bottom of the prepared casserole dish and spread it out evenly.

Top the sauce with a single layer of cooked lasagna noodles.

Spoon ¼ of the ricotta mixture on top of noodles, spreading it evenly.

Top the ricotta mixture with ⅓ of the sauteed kale, distributing it evenly.

Drizzle with ⅔ cup of the Alfredo sauce.

Sprinkle with 1 cup of the grated cheese blend.

Top with a single layer of cooked noodles, then repeat the layering process — ricotta mixture, kale, sauce, cheese, and noodles — two more times.

For the final layer, once you've placed the final layer of noodles, spoon and spread the remaining ricotta mixture.

Drizzle with the remaining Alfredo sauce.

Sprinkle with the remaining cheeses.

Place the casserole dish on a large baking sheet to catch any drips and place in the oven.

Bake for 40 minutes or until bubbly and golden.

Remove the lasagna from the oven and set aside to rest for 20 minutes on a wire rack before slicing and garnishing with fresh sage leaves.

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A big part of what makes this such an easy lasagna recipe is the fact that we put store-bought, jarred Alfredo sauce and canned pumpkin puree to good use. If you feel like spending a little extra time in the kitchen, however, you can make these elements from scratch. For the pumpkin puree, I recommend peeling and roasting either a pie or sugar pumpkin. Simply season the peeled pumpkin pieces with salt and pepper, then roast them in the oven until nice and tender. Then, set the roasted pumpkin aside to drain on a wire rack, which will help expel excess moisture and keep your puree from being too watery (which is especially important in a lasagna recipe, where we don't want a lot of liquid). If you find that your homemade pumpkin puree is a bit loose even after draining, you can also drain some excess moisture from the ricotta (by placing it into a cheesecloth and squeezing), which will establish balance in the final pumpkin ricotta mixture.

For the Alfredo element, start by making a simple béchamel sauce, then season it with garlic, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and lots of Parmesan or Grana Padano. Note that you will need a good amount of Alfredo sauce here, so plan accordingly to yield about 3 ¾ cups of sauce. 

The beauty of this pumpkin lasagna recipe is that we're already experimenting with a classic pasta formula, so it's pretty easy to take things even further. As written, this recipe yields a vegetarian lasagna, but you could easily add in some meat if desired. I think either sweet or spicy Italian sausage would work especially well with the pumpkin and kale in the lasagna, though pancetta or bacon would also add a layer of rich deliciousness. 

While there is already a subtle onion element in the lasagna thanks to sauteed shallots, you could take things even further by bulking up the quantity and possibly even caramelizing the shallots. Mushrooms would also be delicious here and add a wonderful meaty depth (without actually adding any meat). Staying true to the cozy nature of the dish, something like a roasted, earthy wild mushroom blend would be your best bet. If you go the mushroom route, though, make sure you really roast them down and allow as much moisture as possible to evaporate before adding them to the lasagna (because again, lots of liquid in lasagna is something we're trying to avoid). Finally, for that kale element, note that you can swap it out for something comparable, like spinach, Swiss chard, or any other seasonal leafy green that wilts down easily. 

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