Ingredients

• 6 (or 5oz) sheets of lasagne
• 150g of mozzerella cheese
• 25g/1oz of pecorino romano cheese
• 300g of fresh asparagus
• milk
• pinch of salt
• pinch of pepper
• 1 lb / 450gr of english asparagus

Cheats should always eat masses of English asparagus while its short season lasts. All it needs is 4-6 minutes’ steaming, lots of melted butter and your favourite crusty bread. That said, asparagus is also great in this recipe, not least because its shape and design make it perfect for rolling up in cannelloni wraps.

Step by step Cook along with this step by step guide

1. First prepare the asparagus by simply snapping off the tough ends at the point where it breaks off naturally, giving it a rinse in cold water and drying with a tea-cloth. One really good cheese wheeze, if you have a mini chopper, is to crumble 1 oz (25 g) or so (what looks like a tablespoonful) of Pecorino cheese into the chopper and whiz it to the fine crumb stage – it take seconds. After that slice the mozzarella cheese into about 8 slices. Now empty the sauce into a jug, measure the milk to about one-third of the sauce container and add that to the jug. Whisk the milk and sauce together with a seasoning of salt and pepper, then spread a third of the mixture over the base of a heatproof gratin dish (I used one with a base measurement of 8½ x 6½ inches/22 x 17 cm). Next, to prepare the cannelloni: take one lasagne sheet, place one slice of mozzarella in the centre and follow that with the asparagus spears (about 5 or 6), laying them alternately – ie, one with the tip at one end, the next with the tip at the other end and so on. Then season well with salt and pepper, roll the pasta around them and place them seam-side down in the gratin dish. Continue like this with the rest of the lasagne sheets, so they sit side by side in the dish. Now pour the rest of the sauce mixture over, cut both the remaining mozzarella slices into 3 pieces and place one of these on each roll. Finally sprinkle the Pecorino all over, then bake in the oven on the centre shelf for 30-40 minutes until the cannelloni are golden brown and the asparagus is tender. Serve with some dressed salad leaves.

I’ve also added mozzarella for creaminess and Pecorino Romano for lots of cheesy ‘bite’, and if I do say it myself the whole thing is a triumph considering you’re not going to have to do very much more than pop it in the oven! Lovely served with a green salad.

Special Equipment

You will also need a heatproof gratin dish with a base measurement of about 8