Sweet Potato Lasagna…With Help from the Greenmarket

Testing and sharing Greenmarket-based recipes will be another regular feature for the What is Fresh blog. We will share ¨tried and true” seasonal recipes with you and point you to farmers who sell the ingredients you’ll need. Think of us as a local version of America’s Test Kitchen!

By late February and early March, we know that Greenmarket buyers are looking for creative recipes to carry them into the Spring. When I found a recipe for Sweet Potato and Mushroom Lasagna, I knew that this would be the perfect first recipe to test and then share. This recipe comes from Kate, creator of the recipe blog Savour Fare. Beyond sounding satisfying, the recipe attracted me with an ingredient list full of items you can currently get from our local Greenmarkets.

Reactions & Thoughts

This recipe is easy to prepare and could be assembled the night before or morning of by roasting the sweet potatoes and mushrooms and cooking the lasagna noodles. The kind of goat cheese you choose will have a great impact on the taste. I used Coach Farm goat cheese (local but not currently at Greenmarkets), which was both tangy and strong. This particular goat cheese was also harder than other types so it made it less easy to spread.

The two predominant tastes from the recipe are the aforementioned goat cheese and an umami earthiness. The twice roasted sweet potatoes maintained their circular shape, but were as soft as if they had been pureed. The silken texture of the sweet potatoes strongly complemented the slight crunch of the lasagna noodles.

Ingredients & Current Greenmarket Recommendations

Click on the links to each farm to learn where/when the farms are at the markets

3 Sweet Potatoes

Samascott Orchards, Rexcroft Farms, Phillips Farms, John D. Madura Farms,

4 oz. Cremini Mushrooms

Madura Farms, John D. Madura Farms, Rexcroft Farms,

2 Tablespoons olive oil

3 cloves of Garlic

Garden of Eve Farm, John D. Madura Farms

15 oz. Ricotta

8 oz. Cream cheese

Ronnybrook Farm Dairy: yogurt cheese (an alternative to cream cheese)

5 oz. Goat cheese

Lynnhaven Farm, Patches of Star Dairy

1/4 cup chopped Basil

Not in season yet, but Shushan Valley grows hydroponic herbs year round

9 Lasagna Noodles

3 oz. grated Mozzarella

Complete Recipe

Serves 6

3 small sweet potatoes

4 oz. sliced cremini mushrooms

2 T olive oil

3 cloves garlic

15 oz. ricotta

8 oz. cream cheese

5 oz. goat cheese

1/4 c. chopped basil

9 lasagna noodles

3 oz. grated mozzarella

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Step 1) Preheat oven to 400.

Step 2) Peel and slice the sweet potatoes. In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, 2 cloves garlic, minced, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss in the sweet potatoes and the mushrooms, and bake on a foil-lined cookie sheet for 20 minutes.

Step 3) Set a pot of water to boil. Once boiling, cook the lasagna noodles for 8-10 minutes.

Step 4) While the vegetables are roasting and the noodles are cooking, mix ricotta, cream cheese, goat cheese, basil, 1 clove garlic, minced and salt and pepper to taste.

Step 5) In a 10 X 6 lasagna pan, follow this pattern: