Sage Buttermilk Biscuits with Sausage and Cheddar

Make biscuits:

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Whisk together flour, sage, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Blend in butter with your fingers or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in grated cheese, then buttermilk, stirring until a dough forms. Gather dough into a ball and gently knead on a lightly floured surface 8 times. Pat dough into an 8- by 4-inch rectangle and cut into 8 (2-inch) squares.

Arrange squares about 1 inch apart on a greased baking sheet and brush tops with additional buttermilk. Bake in middle of oven until golden brown and biscuits are cooked through, about 15 minutes. Leave oven on. Transfer biscuits to a rack to cool 10 minutes.

Cook sausage while biscuits bake:

Cut sausage crosswise into 8 equal pieces and flatten each into a 3-inch round. Cook sausage in 2 batches in a large nonstick skillet over moderate heat, turning, until cooked through, about 8 minutes per batch. Transfer to paper towels to drain.

Make sandwiches:

Ingredients for biscuits

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1/4 cup grated sharp Cheddar (2 oz)
• 3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk plus additional for brushing
• 3/4 lb bulk fresh pork sausage
• 16 thin slices sharp Cheddar (8 oz)

Butternut Squash and hazelnut lasagna

Make filling:

Cook onion in butter in a deep 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 10 minutes. Add squash, garlic, salt, and white pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until squash is just tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in parsley, sage, and nuts. Cool filling.

Make sauce while squash cooks:

Cook garlic in butter in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring, 1 minute. Whisk in flour and cook roux, whisking, 3 minutes. Add milk in a stream, whisking. Add bay leaf and bring to a boil, whisking constantly, then reduce heat and simmer, whisking occasionally, 10 minutes. Whisk in salt and white pepper and remove from heat. Discard bay leaf. (Cover surface of sauce with wax paper if not using immediately.)

Assemble lasagna:

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Toss cheeses together. Spread 1/2 cup sauce in a buttered 13- by 9- by 2-inch glass baking dish (or other shallow 3-quart baking dish) and cover with 3 pasta sheets, leaving spaces between sheets. Spread with 2/3 cup sauce and one third of filling, then sprinkle with a heaping 1/2 cup cheese. Repeat layering 2 more times, beginning with pasta sheets and ending with cheese. Top with remaining 3 pasta sheets, remaining sauce, and remaining cheese.

For Squash Filling

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 4 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
• 1 cup hazelnuts (4 oz), toasted, loose skins rubbed off with a kitchen towel, and coarsely chopped

For sauce

• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 5 cups milk
• 1 bay leaf (not California)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
• For assembling lasagna
• 1/2 lb fresh mozzarella, coarsely grated (2 cups)
• 1 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (3 oz)
• 12 (7- by 3 1/2-inch) sheets no-boil lasagna (1/2 lb