Roasting Butternut Squash - Preheat the oven to 400 * F. Line a half size sheet pan with foil and set aside. - Lay your butternut squash cubes onto the baking sheet and drizzle the olive oil, and sprinkle the salt, black pepper and Italian seasoning over the cubes. Massage the seasoning into the butternut squash. Place the baking sheet in the oven and roast the butternut squash for about 40 minutes, or until the squash is fork tender. In the bowl of a food processor, add the butternut squash and puree until smooth. Set aside.

Filling - While the butternut squash is baking begin working on the filling. In a large sauté pan placed over medium-high heat, drizzle a little olive oil and add the chicken sausage. Break up the meat with a heat-safe spoon or spatula; cook the sausage until the meat is no longer pink. Remove the pan from the heat and place the sausage into a bowl and let it cool. - Place the same pan back on the burner set to medium heat. Melt the butter and olive oil in the pan. Add in the sliced onions and stir them gently to coat them with butter. Occasionally stir the onions with a heat-safe spoon and let the onions cook down for about 30 mins. Once the onions appear to have broken down and are getting deeper in color, add the garlic and sauté for about 2 minutes. Now, stir in the baby kale and let cook for 3-4 mins. We just want the baby kale to wilt down some. Set aside.

Butternut Squash Sauce - Place a large saucepan over low heat and add in the squash puree, the warm chicken stock and the warm half and half. Whisk carefully to ensure that the ingredients are completely combined. Add in the nutmeg, thyme, cayenne, sage, and salt and pepper. Add the mascarpone cheese and Parmesan cheese; whisk to combine. Remove the pan from the heat and set it aside. (You can make this ahead of time by cooling down the sauce and refrigerating until you are ready to assemble the lasagna.)

Lasagna Assembly - Preheat the oven to 350* F. - Butter/grease your lasagna dish (I used a 8”x11.5”x2” baking dish) and begin layering your lasagna by placing a few ladles of butternut squash sauce at the bottom of the dish. Next, place enough lasagna noodles to cover the sauce. Next, ladle enough sauce to cover the noodles. Layer half of the cooked sausage and half of the kale mixture onto the sauce. Sprinkle about a cup of the mozzarella cheese on top of the filling. Next, add another layer of lasagna noodles and ladle some more sauce to cover the noodles. Layer the remaining sausage and kale mixture onto the sauce and sprinkle about another cup of mozzarella cheese on top. Add one final layer of lasagna noodles followed with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle the rest of your mozzarella cheese on top and place the lasagna into the oven and bake for about 30-35 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and is lightly golden brown. Serve it while it’s hot.