Asparagus Ricotta Lasagna Rolls w/Mushroom Tarragon Sauce

Asparagus and ricotta, mushroom and tarragon… two matches made in heaven I was just dying to put together. I don’t actually make pasta a whole lot, mostly because it’s so filling and I like to eat a lot- which doesn’t work- but as we know, I love little wrapped foods, rolled foods, stuffed foods, and finger foods. So making rolls out of lasagna seemed like a perfect excuse to get my pasta fix on. But it’s not the pasta that’s the star of this… it’s the filling and sauce! Simple, yet flavorful- a mix of ricotta cheese, fresh basil, and a mushroom tarragon sauce. Sooo tasty, yet so simple.

Tarragon is a sweet perennial herb, almost licoricey in taste. It’s related to wormwood- the ingredient in Absinthe, and has a very similar taste. In cooking, it’s potent and strong, so you don’t need much to get great flavor. I use it a lot with cream sauces, potatoes, and chicken. It’s growing like crazy in my garden right now, so when I settled on a ricotta-asparagus dish, I knew a tarragon mushroom sauce would be perfect.

The asparagus gets cooked first- al dente- so that once the rolls are made, just a little heating needs to go down before devouring. Pretty quick and simple really.

Makes 6 rolls

INGREDIENTS
6 lasagna noodles- the kind you must boil first
18 asparagus spears- 3 per roll

For mushroom tarragon sauce…
1 tbsp each olive oil & ghee (or butter)

1/2 yellow onion

2 garlic cloves
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
4 mushrooms- I use crimini (or baby bellas)
1 tbsp fresh tarragon
1/2 cup milk (I used 2%)

For ricotta filling…
3/4 cup ricotta part skim
1 tbsp fresh basil
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Boil a large pot of water for noodles

Cook noodles until al dente and then set aside until ready to roll

I let them sit in cool water so they don’t dry out, which they tend

to do if out of water for too long

Then, start to prep sauce….

Dice up onion- should make about a generous 1/4 cup, maybe a wee more

Heat olive oil and ghee/butter over a low-medium heat

Stir in onions

Sprinkle with about 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper and let saute for about 5 minutes

Then mince up garlic and chop mushrooms- should

make about 1/4 – 1/2 cup mushrooms (depending on size) and a generous 1/2 tbsp garlic

Stir into pan and let cook down for about another 5 minutes

Chop up tarragon- about 1 tbsp…

And toss in

Let cook down four about another 10 mins

Add 1/4 cup milk and turn heat to low (other 1/4 cup milk is for later)

And a 1/2 tsp flour

Stir and let simmer while you get asparagus and ricotta ready

Will start to thicken, something like this…

For asparagus…

Cut or break off ends- they tend to be fibrous and tough

to chew so give the last about inch or so a nip

Toss with olive oil, 1/8 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp pepper

Bake for about 10 minutes

(I find my toaster oven tray to be perfect for this!)

Meanwhile, start ricotta mixture…

Chop basil and get ricotta ready to go

In a small bowl, mix 3/4 cup ricotta, basil, and about 1/8 tsp each salt and pepper

Mix well and set aside

By now, asparagus should be done-

you want it al dente- it will cook a wee longer as a roll, so don’t over do it here 🙂

Get your noodles ready for rolling…

I lay them on a large cutting board so I can roll ’em up easily!

Dollop a large tbsp of the ricotta mixture on one end

(I always use the end closest to me for easy rolling)

Then top each with about 1/2 tsp mushroom sauce

(the remaining mushroom mix will be the sauce for topping)

Then top with 3 cooked asparagus

Starting at end, roll up tightly

Keep rolling until done…

Place rolls on baking dish- I use the same one I cooked the asparagus in

Bake for about 10 minutes- not much longer or else lasagna noodles will become dry and crispy- we want them soft!! So just cook it long enough to heat everything up 🙂