’Tis the season for festive gatherings and hearty dishes to keep us warm. On winter nights to come, you may like to try a favorite dish of Helene Henderson’s. As the owner of Malibu Farm New York, Helene tends to focus on a lot of fresh, seasonal produce. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t like to whip something indulgent every now and then as well.

“This squash lasagna is super easy to make,” she says. “You can use store-bought tomato sauce, although we use a Béchamel sauce. This can also be substituted with cheese only — then all you do is layer the squash with cheese and sauce, and dinner is served. The lasagna can be assembled several days in advance and popped in the oven to serve.”

Helene’s Spaghetti Squash Lasagna Recipe

2 servings

• Spaghetti squash
• 2 cups tomato sauce (homemade or purchased)
• 2 cups milk, cream or half & half
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon butter2 cups spinach
• Salt
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water
• Lemon vinaigrette (optional)
• 2 cups of grated cheese (Parmesan, cheddar, ricotta and mozzarella)

To Make

1. Split and seed spaghetti squash and fill the cavity with salt water. Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 20 minutes until squash is tender and easily removed from shell. Remove flesh from husk, and cool. Add lemon vinaigrette and salt to taste.
2. For the cream sauce, add the oil and garlic to a hot pan and cook until the garlic is cooked through and slightly brown. Add the butter to the cream. Cook until the cream boils and turn on low and simmer for 10 minutes. Add cornstarch mixture, stir well and allow to cool. Taste for salt, and add spinach. 
3. Assemble the squash shells, seasoned and cooked squash strands, prepared tomato sauce and spinach sauce. The technique is to layer each of the ingredients back into the squash shell so that it has a lasagna appearance: Start with cream sauce, then add tomato sauce, squash, Parmesan, cheddar, ricotta, mozzarella. Then repeat. Make sure to stuff the squash very full as when it bakes it tends to sink.
4. Broil the squash to finish.

To try the Malibu Farm version of this dish, and lots of other delicious fare, head to Resy for reservations.