Pumpkin Lasagna Recipe with Spinach and Meatza

This content originally appeared on Low Carb Yum. Republished with permission.

The first thing that comes to mind when you talk about pumpkin as food is usually pumpkin pie or some other sweet dish. However, I came across a recipe for pumpkin lasagna a couple of weeks ago that I really wanted to try.

Low-carb lasagna noodles are available, but I have started to get away from using wheat products as I believe there are many benefits to eating gluten-free. Therefore, I decided to try a “meatza” layer in the lasagna in place of the noodles where I used the meat part of the Spinach Tomato Meatza Pizza Recipe.

I made a few other changes to the original recipe to suit my taste and lower the carbs. Since there aren’t any actual lasagna noodles in this dish, some may argue that it’s really a casserole versus true lasagna.

However, it looks and tastes like lasagna using a pumpkin sauce rather than the traditional tomato-based sauce. Therefore, I have kept the title of this recipe as a lasagna rather than a casserole.

Pumpkin Lasagna with Spinach

A low carb lasagna featuring pumpkin, spinach, and meatza noodles. The pasta noodles in this dish have been replaced with pre-baked seasoned ground beef.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Servings 12 squares

Calories 401 kcal per serving

Ingredients

Meatza ingredients:

2 eggs
1/2 cup parmesan cheese grated
2 teaspoons Italian seasonings
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 pounds ground beef

Lasagna ingredients:

1-2 tablespoon olive oil
6 cups fresh baby spinach
15 ounces canned pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups almond milk or half almond milk half heavy cream
2 teaspoons dried rubbed sage
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
dash ground nutmeg
15 ounces whole milk Ricotta cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
1 cup parmesan cheese shredded or grated
Prepared Meatza

Instructions

Prepare the meatza:

Beat the eggs with the parmesan cheese and all seasonings. Add the ground beef and mix until well combined.
Spread mixture out onto a jelly roll pan. Bake for about 15-20 minutes in a 450°F oven.
Drain off any grease after removing from the oven. Slice into rectangular pieces to fit into lasagna pan.

Lasagna directions:

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add spinach and stir until spinach is wilted. Remove from heat.
Combine pumpkin, almond milk, sage, salt, pepper and nutmeg in bowl.
Spread 1/2 cup pumpkin sauce onto bottom of 9×13 baking pan. Top with half of the cut up meatza.
Spread 1/2 of the remaining pumpkin sauce on top of the meatza layer then cover with spinach. Top with half of the ricotta, half of the mozzarella, and half of the parmesan cheeses. Repeat layers. Cover with foil.
Bake at 375 °F for 30 minutes.
Remove foil and bake uncovered for an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and browned.

Recipe Notes

Baking the meat into thin meatloaf pieces is what holds the lasagna together. The meat should be pressed into a rimmed baking sheet to be as thin as possible.

To prevent over-browning the cheese, cover the casserole pan with foil while baking. Then remove the foil during the last ten minutes of baking to brown the cheese.

Nutrition Facts

Pumpkin Lasagna with Spinach

Amount Per Serving

Calories 401 Calories from Fat 261

% Daily Value*

Fat 29g45%

Saturated Fat 13g81%

Cholesterol 122mg41%

Sodium 850mg37%

Potassium 441mg13%

Carbohydrates 5g2%

Fiber 1g4%

Protein 27g54%

Vitamin A 7350IU147%

Vitamin C 5.7mg7%

Calcium 400mg40%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Please note that the nutritional information may vary depending on the specific brands of products used. We encourage everyone to check specific product labels in calculating the exact nutritional information.