Spring is here! This is one of my favorite times of year as the air finds a gentle and refreshing warmth, the rivers and streams are raging, the ground has that sweet smell as it comes back to life and…….ASPARAGUS!
As a child I never liked asparagus. Now that I’ve aged, ever so delicately, I might add……:-), I absolutely love this springtime vegetable.
My Dad will usually run down to the local farm and drop off a huge bag of asparagus to Jenn and I at some point, so I need to remind myself to start bugging him. Anyhow, as my mind turned to spring and asparagus this week, I decided to come up with my version of a springtime lasagna to kick off the season.
Asparagus, mushrooms, basil, sun dried tomatoes, and being the carnivore that I am, a homemade Italian chicken sausage. A creamy and wonderful Havarti sauce to bring it all together with a glass of crisp Finger Lakes Riesling…..does it get much better on an early spring day?
I used Barilla Oven-Ready lasagna noodles. They are much wider than a regular noodle, as indicated in the picture below, and make a better roll in my opinion. They also cook fast and hold up well. I made 4 fat rolls using 2 noodles per roll- you may want to use 2 or 4 more noodles and make more rolls.
This is not a “quick” recipe and requires a little of your time but is relatively easy, fun, and worth every effort. Hope you enjoy!
- 1 recipe of Italian Chicken Sausage (below)
- 3 Tbsps. olive oil, divided 1 Tbsp and 2 Tbsps.
- 8 oz. fresh asparagus, ends trimmed, cut in 1 inch pieces
- 8 oz. mushroom, chopped
- ½ cup red onion, minced
- ¼ cup sun dried tomato, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 8-12 lasagna noodles
- 1 (15 oz.) container ricotta cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1 egg
- 2 Tbsps. basil chopped
- 1 recipe Havarti cheese sauce (below)
- 1 lb. lean ground chicken
- 2 Tbsps. red wine
- 1 tsp. each salt, sugar
- ½ tsp. fennel seed
- ¼ tsp. each black pepper, crushed red pepper
- 3 Tbsps. flour
- 3 Tbsps. butter
- 2 cups milk
- 7 oz. Havarti cheese, shredded or chopped
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ⅛ tsp each black pepper, nutmeg
- Mix sausage ingredients together in medium size bowl. Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat and cook sausage. Use a potato masher to crumble it. Transfer sausage to a plate and drain any liquid.
- In the same skillet, heat remaining 2 Tbps. olive oil on medium heat. Add asparagus and saute about 3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and saute about 7 minutes more. Remove from heat.
- While the vegetables are sauteing, bring a pot of water to a boil with a little oil. Cook lasagna noodles for 3 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse with cold water. Rinse the pot with cold water, add some oil. Return the noodles to the pot and dd a little more oil and mix around. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- To make the cheese sauce, heat butter over medium heat in large saucepan. Add flour and mix together to make a blond roux, cooking about a minute. Pour in milk and bring to a gentle boil, stirring occasionally. Turn off heat and stir in cheese, salt, and spices. Turn heat to low and stir.
- In a large bowl, mix together the sausage, vegetables, ricotta cheese, egg, ½ cup of mozzarella cheese, and basil.
- Coat a baking pan with the cheese sauce and set aside.
- On a clean surface, take 2 lasagna noodles and overlap the 2 ends. Spread ¼ of the mixture from one end to about an inch on the other end. Roll up and place in the pan. Repeat until the other 3 rollups are made.
- Top with cheese sauce (I did not use all of it) and sprinkle remaining ½ cup of mozzarella.
- Bake 20 minutes.
Can hardly wait to try the roll ups. They really look yummy and I love asparagus!
Thanks, Nolita. Hope you like them!