Steps to make lasagna with pumpkin and sausage

• To make the lasagna with pumpkin and sausage, first clean the pumpkin. If the pumpkin is too hard, microwave it for a couple of minutes. Then remove the skin, seeds, and inner filaments. Cut it into pieces. Take a red onion, slice it thinly and sauté it in a pan with some extra virgin olive oil for a couple of minutes, then add the pumpkin. Season with salt, black pepper, and 1 sprig of rosemary and cook well for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

  When it’s cooked, blend it with an immersion blender, adding a splash of water to the blender jar. I preferred blending the pumpkin because my kids like it that way, but you can keep the pumpkin in pieces if you want. In that case, cut it into small cubes beforehand. Now take the sausage, remove the casing, crumble it with your hands and brown it in a pan for a few minutes without adding any seasonings, over fairly high heat.

• Set aside and now prepare the béchamel sauce. Melt the butter in a pot, add the all-purpose flour and stir using a hand whisk. When you obtain a smooth and homogeneous consistency, you can add the whole milk slowly while continuing to stir. Then season the béchamel with salt, black pepper, and nutmeg and let it thicken; it should not be too runny or too thick. Cook it over low heat for about 8 minutes. Now put the béchamel in a large bowl, set aside a little for the base and surface. Mix the remaining béchamel with the previously prepared pumpkin cream.

• Preheat the oven to 350°F and in the meantime, cut the smoked scamorza into pieces. For the mozzarella, decide which type to use; I used the dry one for pizza, but if you want, you can also use classic mozzarella; let it drain for at least 1 hour before using it.

  Now start assembling the lasagna. Take the baking dish and create a layer of white béchamel sauce on the base, then place the first layer of lasagna. Add the béchamel with pumpkin cream, then the sausage, the scamorza pieces, some mozzarella, and some grated pecorino romano. Continue with all the other layers, first the béchamel with pumpkin cream, then the sausage, smoked scamorza, mozzarella, and grated pecorino. Finally, cover the last layer with béchamel; if you have leftover pumpkin cream, you can add it as well, then top with smoked scamorza, mozzarella, and grated pecorino.

• Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes. Then switch to grill mode for 5 minutes to brown the surface. Remove from the oven and let it cool slightly before serving. Perfect for a meal with family or friends.