Butternut Squash Cannelloni

Preheat oven temp to 350 degrees.  Butter an 8-inch (2-quart) baking dish.

Cut in half, peel and seed butternut squash of 1 pound, 

cut into 1-inch cubes.

In a pot of boiling water, cook squash tender for 10 minutes.  Drain squash, transfer to a medium bowl.

Add 8 oven-ready lasagna noodles into the water that squash was cooked in– or into a separate medium pot of hot water– to soften noodles just enough to work with– to be able to coil…  (Basically dipping them in and out of hot water, seemingly.)

Saute 2 coarsely chopped shallots in 1 tablespoon olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper, cook until soft.  After 5 minutes of cooking, transfer to the squash bowl.  Add 2 tablespoons milk,

1 teaspoon finely chopped sage, 

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg; season with salt and pepper.  Mash to a coarse puree with a fork or a potato masher.

Make sure lasagna noodles are dried on both sides of each before spreading 1/4 cup of squash mixture onto each one for filling and rolling.

Coil, lay seam side down; arrange rolls together in the baking dish.  In a separate bowl, mix 15 ounces ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan and 1/4 cup milk.  Season with salt and pepper, stir until smooth.  Spread cheese mixture over cannelloni; top with 1/4 cup Parmesan over all.  Bake for 25 minutes.

Heat in a small skillet 2 tablespoons olive oil.  Over medium-high heat, fry 8 to 10 whole sage leaves until crisp– 15 to 20 seconds.  Season with salt and pepper.  Drain on napkins or paper towels.  

Remove from the oven after cooking time is through, set the oven to broiler temp.  Place the cannelloni back in the oven to broil only to brown the top quickly.  Remove from the oven, top with whole sage leaves that were previously fried.  

Serve immediately.