Pinakbet Lasagna: A Squash-Sauce Bake Inspired by the 2026 Ilocos Cook-Off

The September 2026 Natnateng Cook-Off in Batac featured pinakbet lasagna with squash purée and crispy bagnet toppings. PIA’s report establishes that dish concept, not its recipe. This home version uses familiar vegetables from pinakbet Ilocano in a small layered bake, with pasta and sauce quantities chosen for a household pan. Source 1

Use boil-first pasta for this version

For a 20 cm square baking dish and four to six portions, prepare 150–180 g dry lasagna sheets that can be boiled first, 350 g peeled squash, one medium eggplant, 120 g sitaw, one small onion, 300 g crushed tomatoes, two tablespoons oil and up to 150 ml unsalted broth. Use 100 g grated cheese if wanted. Keep cooked crisp bagnet or pan-browned tofu separate for serving. No-boil sheets need a different liquid plan and are not a direct substitute here.

Cook moisture out before assembly

1. Steam the squash until tender and mash with enough of the measured broth to make a smooth, spreadable sauce. It should fall from a spoon in a thick ribbon rather than stand as dry mashed squash.
2. Cut the eggplant and sitaw into small pieces. Brown the eggplant in part of the oil, then cook the beans until tender-crisp. Work in batches if the pan fills with liquid.
3. Soften the onion in the remaining oil, add the tomatoes and simmer to a thick sauce. Season lightly with salt or a checked vegetarian seasoning for a meat-free batch; fish sauce and bagoong change the ingredients and allergens.
4. Boil the pasta according to its package until just tender, drain and separate the sheets so they do not stick. Heat the oven to 180°C conventional or 160°C fan.
5. Spread a little tomato sauce in the dish, then make two or three thin layers of pasta, squash sauce and cooked vegetables. Distribute the remaining tomato sauce between layers and finish with the optional cheese. Cover with an oven-safe lid or foil kept clear of acidic sauce.
6. Bake for about 25–30 minutes, then uncover briefly if the top needs colour. Check that the centre reaches 74°C and a knife passes easily through the middle pasta layer. Timings vary with the dish and starting temperature.
7. Rest for about ten minutes before slicing. Add the hot crisp topping at the table. If using previously cooked bagnet, reheat it to 74°C throughout before serving.

Sources: Source 4

Keep sauce and topping jobs separate

Squash supplies a creamy vegetable layer but does not behave exactly like a flour-and-milk white sauce. If the filling pools water, reduce the vegetable or tomato stage more next time. If the middle pasta is dry, check both its pre-cooking and the spreadability of the squash sauce. The sauce troubleshooting guide helps distinguish excess water from a sauce that simply needs a short rest.

Crisp bagnet loses its crunch when buried in wet layers. Tofu offers a different topping, not an allergen-free equivalent: soy, milk and wheat may all need declaring depending on the products chosen. This is a home interpretation of the reported cook-off idea, with its own ingredient proportions.

Cool slices, not a deep warm pan

Divide leftovers into shallow portions and refrigerate at 4°C or below within two hours, or within one hour above 32°C. Reheat to 74°C throughout. Keep the crisp topping separately so reheating the sauce does not also soak it. Source 3 Source 4