The Thanksgiving holiday is near and many students are preparing for a feast that includes turkey and ham.

Those delicious entrees are the key to a perfect Thanksgiving meal, but there are some alternatives for those who do not eat meat. Vegetarians can get creative with food, whipping up tasty dishes that are not as traditional.

One tasty dish that works for the holiday and a vegetarian diet is Butternut Squash Lasagna. This may not sound like the usual Thanksgiving dish served, but it includes some classic ingredients found in other dishes.

Here is a modified version of the Butternut Squash, Sage and Goat Cheese lasagna recipe from “7 Satisfying Vegetarian Recipes for your Thanksgiving Spread.” This whole meal could cost under $25, reasonable for a college budget.

Ingredients:

– 1 medium-sized butternut squash, peeled and chopped into cubes

– Oven-ready lasagna noodles

– 1 onion, chopped

– A mixture of Italian cheeses, about 4 to 5 cups

– Garlic, chopped

– Ricotta Cheese

– Marinara, or some sort of pasta sauce, 1 to 2 containers

– 10 ounces bag of frozen spinach

– 1 tablespoon of olive oil

– Crushed red peppers

– Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees while some of the primary ingredients are being chopped. Once the squash, the onion, and garlic are chopped, spread them evenly throughout a baking sheet and then top it with crushed red peppers, salt and pepper, and olive oil to roast for 25 minutes.

As those ingredients are roasting, mix together the Italian cheeses, defrosted spinach and ricotta cheese with a spoon in a bowl.

Once the roasting is finished, take the sheet out of the oven and set it aside for the ingredients to cool.

Take a pyrex dish and add some of the marinara/pasta sauce to the bottom of this dish and top that with three or four of the lasagna noodles, depending on the size of the dish.

Top the lasagna noodles with the roasted ingredients, the cheese mixture and the sauce. Top the sauce with lasagna noodles and then continue until the pyrex dish is filled. If there is any remaining Italian cheeses, sprinkle some on top.

Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees, top the lasagna with aluminum foil and then place in the oven to bake for 30 minutes. Once finished, remove the foil and allow the lasagna to bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Remove the lasagna from the oven and serve with already prepared dinner rolls or other Thanksgiving side dishes.

This recipe was modified from www.wallstcheatsheet.com.