Crispy pumpkin lasagne with the Thermomix® only works if the pumpkin slices are briefly steamed in a frying pan first. Layered straight from raw into the oven, they stay fibrous and soak up the béchamel like a sponge. Three minutes in olive oil over a medium heat makes the pumpkin soft enough to cook through evenly in the oven without ruining the sauce consistency.
We have been making this lasagne every autumn for years, when Hokkaido is widely available. The recipe stands or falls on two points: the béchamel must be thick enough to absorb the moisture from the pumpkin, and the crunchy topping of toasted bread and pumpkin seeds must only go on in the final 15 minutes without foil.
Crispy Pumpkin Lasagne with the Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 20 ✓
- 2 slices toast bread darkly toasted
- 80 g pumpkin seeds
- 1 onion
- 5 g ginger
- 120 g butter
- 120 g flour
- 800 g milk
- 100 g white wine
- 200 g crème fraîche
- 1 tsp instant stock powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 600 g Hokkaido pumpkin
- 2 tomatoes
- 10 g olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp thyme
- 250 g Mozzarella
- 12 lasagne sheets
Instructions 0 / 9
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1
Chop toast bread and pumpkin seeds.
Place toast bread and pumpkin seeds into the mixing bowl, chop for 4 sec / speed 7 and set aside.
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2
Chop onion and ginger.
Peel onion, peel ginger, place in the mixing bowl, chop for 4 sec / speed 6 and scrape down with the spatula.
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3
Melt butter.
Add butter and heat for 3 min / Varoma / speed 1 without the mixing bowl lid.
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4
Cook ingredients.
Add flour, set the Thermomix® to 10 min / 100°C / speed 2 and slowly add milk, wine, crème fraîche, stock powder, 1/2 tsp salt, nutmeg and pepper.
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5
Prepare pumpkin.
Meanwhile, quarter the pumpkin, peel, remove the seeds and cut into thin slices. Wash tomatoes and slice.
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6
Heat oil in a frying pan.
Heat oil in a frying pan and steam pumpkin and tomato slices for approx. 3 min, then season with 1/2 tsp salt and thyme. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan.
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7
Layer the lasagne.
Slice Mozzarella and layer alternately with lasagne sheets, pumpkin, tomatoes and sauce in a baking dish.
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8
Bake.
Pour sauce over the top as the final layer, spread the pumpkin seed crumbs on top and bake covered with foil on the middle shelf for 30 min.
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9
Finish baking.
Remove the foil and bake for a further 15 min until golden brown.
Tip: A colourful mixed salad goes very well with this pumpkin lasagne.
Nutrition per serving
Why Hokkaido and not butternut
Hokkaido has more starch and less water than butternut squash. That is crucial for a lasagne that holds together when you cut it. Butternut would water down the béchamel and push the layers apart. The skin of Hokkaido stays on when the slices are only 3 to 4 millimetres thin. For thicker slices it is better to peel, otherwise the texture becomes uneven.
The 600 g of pumpkin in the recipe card gives roughly 4 to 5 slices per layer once quartered and de-seeded. If the pumpkin is larger, increase the amount to 800 g, but then you will also need 100 g more milk for the sauce.
Béchamel with ginger instead of garlic
The 5 g of ginger in the recipe is not a garnish. Ginger has a sharp sweetness that balances the earthy note of the pumpkin without overpowering it. Garlic would be too assertive here. The ginger is chopped with the onion at speed 6, then the butter goes in and heats for 3 minutes at Varoma on speed 1 without the lid. This matters: the butter must foam before the flour goes in. Otherwise the roux forms lumps.
After the flour, the Thermomix® runs for 10 minutes at 100°C on speed 2. During this time you slowly add the 800 g milk, 100 g white wine, 200 g crème fraîche and the seasonings. Slowly means: in a thin stream spread over 30 to 40 seconds, not all at once. Otherwise the emulsion breaks and the sauce turns grainy.
After the 10 minutes the béchamel must be thick enough that it does not drip straight off the spatula. If it is too thin, extend by 2 minutes at the same temperature. Too thin means: the lasagne turns soggy in the oven because the sauce cannot absorb the water from the pumpkin.
Do not skip steaming the pumpkin
While the béchamel is cooking, cut the pumpkin into slices. Then heat 10 g of olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and steam the pumpkin and tomato slices for 3 minutes. This is not optional, it is essential. Raw pumpkin in the oven needs at least 50 minutes to become tender. The lasagne bakes for only 45 minutes, 30 of those covered. Without pre-steaming the pumpkin stays firm and the top layer burns before the centre is cooked through.
The tomatoes are steamed at the same time so they lose water. Fresh tomatoes contain over 90 per cent water. Layered directly into the lasagne, they thin the béchamel and make the dish watery. After 3 minutes in the pan they have released enough moisture while still keeping their shape.
Layering without chaos
The layering order is non-negotiable: first a thin layer of béchamel on the bottom of the dish, then lasagne sheets, then pumpkin and tomatoes, then Mozzarella, then béchamel again. Mozzarella in the middle between two vegetable layers prevents the lasagne sheets above and below from sticking directly together. If you put the cheese only on top, the lasagne dries out.
The 12 lasagne sheets in the recipe card are enough for 3 layers in a standard baking dish (30 by 20 centimetres). More layers make the lasagne harder to cut, fewer make it flat and dull. The final layer is always béchamel, never cheese. Otherwise the cheese burns before the centre is cooked through.
Crunchy topping only at the end
The mixture of toasted bread and pumpkin seeds goes onto the lasagne only after 30 minutes of baking time. Before that, the dish is covered with foil. This keeps the moisture in and stops the surface browning too quickly. After 30 minutes, remove the foil, add the crunchy topping, then bake for a further 15 minutes without foil. The pumpkin seeds toast during this time and give a nutty contrast to the creamy béchamel.
If you put the crunchy topping on from the start, it burns before the lasagne is cooked through. We have tested this several times: the seeds turn black and the toast bread turns bitter. With the two-phase method everything stays golden and crispy.
Oven and resting time
180°C fan, middle shelf. Conventional heat works too, then use 200°C. The lasagne needs at least 10 minutes to rest on the worktop after baking. Cut straight from the oven, it falls apart. The béchamel must set before you remove the first piece. After 10 minutes the lasagne holds its shape and portions cleanly.
Leftovers keep in the fridge for 3 days in a sealed container. Reheat at 160°C for 15 minutes, covered with foil, otherwise it dries out. Freezing does not work well: the pumpkin turns mushy after thawing and the béchamel splits.
Serve with: Ciabatta.
A green salad with balsamic dressing goes well alongside this crispy pumpkin lasagne. Nothing more is needed. Try our classic Thermomix® lasagne, our lasagne soup, our pumpkin soup, our pumpkin Risotto and our quick pumpkin vegetables.
