Lasagna with Smoked Sausage, Pumpkin, and Collard Greens

Ingredients

• 1 pound uncooked lasagna noodles
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 (12 ounce) package Hillshire Farm® Rope Smoked Sausage, cut in 1/4" cubes
• 1 ½ cups finely chopped yellow onion
• 10 cups chopped collard greens
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, divided
• 1 teaspoon black pepper, divided
• 3 (15 ounce) cans pumpkin puree
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 (16 ounce) containers ricotta cheese
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 2 cups freshly shredded fontina cheese, divided
• Cooking spray

Step 1

Gently heat your oven to 400°F. Boil the lasagna noodles in salted water until they’re just tender, about 8 minutes. Drain them well and toss with a tablespoon of olive oil to keep them from sticking together, then spread them out in a baking pan.

Step 2

Heat the remaining olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the smoked sausage and cook it for about 4 minutes until it starts to brown. Toss in the onion, turn the heat down to medium, and cook until the onion softens, around 4 minutes. Stir in the collard greens and cook for about 8 minutes, stirring often, until they’re wilted and most of the liquid has evaporated. Add the garlic and cook just until fragrant, about a minute. Season everything with salt and pepper, then take the pan off the heat and let it cool a bit.

Step 3

In a medium bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, heavy cream, nutmeg, cayenne, and a little salt and pepper. In another bowl, combine the ricotta, eggs, Parmesan, fontina, and the rest of the salt and pepper.

Step 4

Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Spread half a cup of the pumpkin mixture on the bottom. Lay down 3 or 4 noodles, overlapping slightly, then spread half of the remaining pumpkin mixture over them. Add half of the sausage mixture, then another layer of noodles. Spread half of the ricotta mixture on top. Repeat these layers one more time: noodles, pumpkin mixture, sausage mixture, noodles, and finish with the ricotta mixture.

Step 5

Cover the dish with foil and bake for about 50 minutes, until it’s bubbly around the edges and heated through. Take off the foil, preheat your broiler, then sprinkle the remaining Parmesan and fontina over the top. Pop it under the broiler about 4 inches from the heat for roughly 4 minutes, until the cheese is golden and bubbly. Let the lasagna sit for 15 minutes before serving to let everything set.