Filling Ingredients:
- 3-pound butternut squash, peeled, cut in half below the “neck”, seeds removed, cut into thin circles and half-moons using a mandoline or a sharp knife
- ¼ cup olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- 1 Tbsp. butter
- 1-pound package of fresh Porcini mushrooms, sliced (could use any wild mushrooms)
- 1 pound whole-milk Ricotta cheese
- ½ cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup chopped fresh sage
Other Ingredients:
- 2 Tbsp. butter, softened
- ½ stick butter
- 4 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 3 cups whole milk
- Generous pinch of ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp. each salt and pepper
- 6-ounce package of fresh lasagna sheets (see refrigerated pasta section)
- 2 cups grated Mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
Filling Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or foil. Place squash slices in a single layer on the baking sheet and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature.
- Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat then sauté the mushrooms for about five minutes, stirring a few times. Allow to cool to room temperature.
- Mix the Ricotta, Parmesan, egg and sage in a large bowl. Set aside.
Assembly Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Generously butter a 13x9x2-inch baking dish using two tablespoons of butter. Set aside.
- In a large heavy saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and stir for three minutes, until bubbly but not browned. Add the cream and whole milk and whisk to fully incorporate the flour mixture into the liquids. Add the nutmeg and salt and pepper. Cook the sauce until thickened, about 10 minutes, over low heat, whisking frequently.
- Add a ladle-full of white sauce to the buttered dish making sure the bottom is covered.
- Place two fresh lasagna sheets over the sauce. If the pasta sheets are too long, run them up the sides of the dish for crunchy corners when the lasagna bakes.
- Scoop half of the Ricotta cheese mixture over the lasagna noodles, spreading evenly.
- Place half of the butternut squash over the Ricotta.
- Arrange two more fresh lasagna sheets over the squash.
- Add two ladle-full of white sauce over the lasagna noodles.
- Sprinkle the sautéed mushrooms over the sauce.
- Top the mushrooms with two more fresh lasagna sheets.
- Place the last of the butternut squash over the lasagna sheets.
- Top the squash with the remaining Ricotta mixture.
- Cap the lasagna with the Mozzarella cheese then the Parmesan cheese.
- Coat a piece of foil large enough to cover the lasagna with cooking spray. Cover the lasagna with the foil for 45 minutes. Remove the foil, turn the oven to broil and cook the lasagna for an additional 7-10 minutes, until browned. Allow the lasagna to cool for 20 minutes before serving.
Veronique Deblois, Food & Wine Chickie: Veronique is a food and wine writer based in Morris County, NJ. As the author of the popular blog, Food & Wine Chickie Insider, Veronique shares recipes, wine and restaurant reviews and insight into the travel industry of which she’s a 15-year veteran. Follow Veronique on Twitter or like her Facebook page.
RESCHEDULED JERSEY SHORE RESTAURANT WEEK STARTS FRIDAY Come Support Your Favorite Restaurants. If ever your favorite restaurants needed you…..it’s now. 49 of the original 65 restaurants who were participating in Restaurant Week are back and ready for a great week. 
Sunday, December 2nd: The Jersey Relief Experiment, an amateur cook-off to benefit the 
December 5th: What’s love got to do with it? Plenty, according to matchmaker and dating coach Julianne Cantarella, 
An Evening With Paula Deen, Saturday, December 8th at 6pm. Tropicana Casino & Resort in Atlantic City welcomes Paula Deen. This is your chance to witness first hand, some delicious southern home cooking demonstrations. For tickets and more information, 
December 13th, Holiday Toy Drive & Cheer and Beer Night at Morris Tap and Grill. A night of fun while collecting toys for the St. Peter’s orphanage and families who have been displaced by Hurricane Sandy. What more could you ask for? Make sure you RSVP today! https://www.facebook.com/events/441095882620469/
NEW DATE!! Michael’s Feat Annual Wine & Chef’s Tasting Tuesday, January 15th 6:00 pm till 9:00 pm Hosted at The Mill, Spring Lake Heights, NJ.Tickets for the event will still have the old date on them. They are valid tickets and will still be needed to gain entrance to the event.$40 per person in advance, $50 per person at the door (Minimum age 21) Visit 
Looking for a delicious gift for your hard to please food-obsessed friends? How about preserves with unique flavors, made by hand with local produce, in beautiful packaging? Let me introduce you to 
How about the Smoked Italian Plum on a burger or with pork tenderloin? The Donut Peach would be heavenly mixed into Greek yogurt. If you’re more of the savory type, try the chunky Spiced Tomato (with a hint of cayenne, cloves, and cinnamon) on a thick slice of hearty toast.
Sophie and Bobby do everything themselves, from macerating the fruit and jarring it, to packaging, and finally to writing each note that goes into every box. Nothing is outsourced to maintain the quality.
Back in the day used to take a beer with me when I hopped in the shower before a night on the town. Here’s another way to take your beer to the shower: Beer soap. 
Finally, here’s a more practical idea: Glasses. Every beer lover needs them because they are essential to enjoying your favorite brew to the fullest. I have a large collection of logo shaker pint glasses myself. Most of the states breweries and brew pubs offer them for sale along with other logo products like growlers and swag. Beer lovers also like to pair the right beer with the correctly shaped glass. The work horses of my glass collection are the 
The Academy of Culinary Arts at the Atlantic Cape Community College in Mays Landing hosted a Slow Food Sustainable Dinner which featured locally harvested food to celebrate World Food Day. The dinner was held in the schools award winning Careme’s Restaurant on the campus and prepared by the talented culinary students. The meal was served in a four course “farm to table” setting and included ingredients planted and harvested in Atlantic Cape’s organic greenhouse, responsibly harvested seafood and poultry, scallops from SeaSalt Supported Agriculture (CSA) Program at B & B Farms in Pomona. Proceeds from the dinner will benefit Atlantic Cape’s organic greenhouse on the campus grounds.
Our student server Maria Nicastro (culinary students work front and back of the house to learn all aspects of the restaurant business in a hands-on style in the college’s program) treated us to warm, fresh out of the oven dinner rolls, light and flaky with picture perfect egg wash brown and glossy tops (It would have made the Pillsbury Dough Boy jealous). Then, came the first course of Braised Escarole and Navy Bean Soup which had a silky and flavorful broth with a hearty amount of greens and beans. Next up, was a second course of Seared Cape May County Scallops with local pear and carrot puree, spiced port reduction and topped with young greens. The scallops were seared to perfection with just the right caramelization and so fresh and sweet you would have thought the boat was out back! Scrumptious!
Third course consisted of Half Roasted Organic Chicken atop Potato and Pepper Hash in a natural reduction. The chicken was tender, juicy, and nicely seasoned with a nice crispy skin and the hash was to die for! I made my husband give me most of his! I took home a silver swan with my leftover chicken for later. The dessert an Apple and Fig Cobbler with Vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce was just the right ending to an outstanding example of local bounty cooked to perfection by the culinary students of ACA. It is always a pleasure to be invited to Careme’s for any event as well as their regular lunch and dinner menu offered throughout the school year. Do not miss the chance to dine at the restaurant, as well as the Cafe series of eating events which features guest chef’s working in conjunction with the students. It is the most affordable luxury in fine dining you would expect to receive from only the best of restaurants! You can reach Careme’s for more information and reservations at 609-343-4940.
Following the dinner, the guest speaker was Marguerite Chandler, Co-founder of Slow Food South Jersey Shore. SFSJS is a chapter of Slow Food USA, an international movement which started in Italy in response to a McDonald’s opening across from the Colosseum in Rome. The movement supports a sustainable food supply which highlights the importance of food that’s primarily local (100 to 150 miles), seasonal, and fresh. They believe food should taste good with fresh ingredients, carefully prepared with respect for recipes and traditions that have lasted for generations. The group holds Slow Food Dinners throughout South Jersey at various restaurant locations. I have attended past dinners which are usually held in January and have immensely enjoyed the delicious local fare. You can get more information by visiting 
Stuffing
Megan Anderle is a web journalist by day, food blogger by night. On her blog budget-bon-viveur.com, she teaches beginner cooks the basics and proves that you can eat well without breaking the bank. Megan thinks everything tastes better with Nutella and hopes to attend culinary school one day.
This list is a growing. If you would like us to add an event, please send the details to 
On Monday, November 19th, 
