Butternut Squash Timbale

We really enjoy butternut squash.  It is available year-round in the grocery store.  Impress your guests at your next dinner party with their own butternut squash timbale appetizer.

• 10 ramekins buttered 
• 2 butternut squash, peeled and sliced lengthwise 
• 3 c ricotta cheese 
• fresh baby spinach, chopped 
• 1 large egg 
• ½ c pecorino cheese 
• 1½ c 1 c mozzarella, shredded 
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Roast sliced squash on a baking sheet until softened, (about twenty minutes) remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely.

Place the ricotta, spinach, egg, pecorino, mozzarella and salt and pepper in a large bowl and mix to incorporate. Set aside.

• 2 c milk 
• 4 T flour 
• ½ stick butter 
• fresh sage sprig 
• 1 garlic clove, minced 
• salt and pepper to taste

Place butter in a pan and melt over medium heat.  Stir in garlic and whisk in flour until it turns light brown.   Whisk in three tablespoons of the milk to combine.  Slowly whisk in the remaining milk and continue to whisk until it starts to thicken and remove from heat.

Place a tablespoon of the white sauce in the bottom of each of the prepared ramekins.   Then place a layer of roasted squash, to fit to the edges.  Spread ricotta layer on top of the squash, followed by a layer of the white sauce and repeat layering until you reach close to the top of the ramekin, ending up with squash for the top.

Finally spread the top with white sauce and sprinkle with pecorino and top with some sage leaves.

Bake uncovered until cheese is melted, heated through and golden on top – twenty to thirty minutes.