1-First, place the sliced onion, 10 whole sage leaves, ground mace, and 1 liter of milk into a large pan. Heat just below simmering point, then remove from heat, cover, and let it cool before straining and setting the infused milk aside.

2-Next, cook the finely chopped onions with butter gently until very soft, without browning; remove them, leaving the butter in the pan, stir in the flour, and cook for 2 minutes.

3-Gradually whisk in the infused milk until smooth, then simmer until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in two-thirds of the parmesan, whipping cream, salt, pepper, nutmeg, finely chopped sage leaves, and the softened chopped onions to create a creamy béchamel sauce. In a separate pan, fry the meatballs in olive oil over high heat until golden and crispy, adding a nice crunch to the layers.

4-Now, in a large baking dish, layer half of the béchamel sauce, meatballs, pasta sheets, and butternut squash sheets. Mix the remaining infused milk with the rest of the béchamel sauce and pour it over the layers, then cover with foil. Bake at 180°C (fan 160°C, gas mark 4) for 45 minutes, remove the foil, scatter the remaining parmesan on top, and bake for an additional 30-40 minutes until bubbling and golden. For a twist, try our pumpkin ricotta gnocchi recipe if you want to experiment with squash in other forms.