Wild garlic and asparagus cannelloni with lemon and ricotta filling and green wild garlic béchamel: This vegetarian pasta bake combines two of our favorite spring ingredients: wild garlic and asparagus. The simple pasta dish is baked with mozzarella. Creamy, green and aromatic – the perfect recipe if you want to bring spring into your kitchen.
Spring is finally really springing. While we are still wondering whether our olive tree on the balcony survived the nasty Berlin winter without any damage this time, our two favorite signs of spring are appearing in abundance on the market and in the supermarkets: asparagus and Wild garlic. In Germany, the worship of asparagus is almost a substitute religion, and we are always happy to buy the first bunches. Last weekend we also started the hiking season with a trip to the Fläming and rewarded ourselves with a visit to an asparagus farm after the run (unforgettable also our long one Weekend in the asparagus town of Beelitz in Flämingwhen we not only lived on asparagus 24/7, but also got to know the asparagus playground). Asparagus has already made a big comeback in our own kitchen this season and has now finally been combined with its favorite spring companion, wild garlic. This time the big reunion took place in the oven in the form of a wonderfully green spring recipe: Wild garlic and asparagus cannelloni with lemon and ricotta filling.
It should no longer be a secret that we love wild garlic at least as much as asparagus. Although our consumption has decreased somewhat in Berlin (in Munich we conveniently had a wild garlic meadow almost on our doorstep), wild garlic still regularly ends up on our plates when we find it. The best moment of the wild garlic season (from March to the beginning of May), which is always far too short, is when it overlaps with the asparagus season (around mid-April to the end of June). Of course, these rare weeks must be taken advantage of!
The result is spicy cannelloni filled with green asparagus and an airy lemon-ricotta-goat cheese mixture. In the oven, the filled pasta rolls meet a creamy wild garlic béchamel sauce, which is the real secret of this delicious pasta bake. The pureed wild garlic gives the classic béchamel sauce an intense green color and tastes spicy, slightly hot and definitely like spring (the wild garlic béchamel also works excellently in a vegetable lasagna). Finally, pieces of mozzarella gratinate the vegetarian cannelloni casserole and the perfect spring dish ends up on the plate.
More spring recipes with asparagus and wild garlic
Are you looking for more recipes with asparagus or wild garlic? Here you will find it:
- Green asparagus curry with peas, coriander, mint and cashew
- Asparagus pizza with lemon thyme ricotta, pesto and almonds
- Spaghetti with green asparagus, burrata, chili & lemon
- Spring quiche with asparagus, peas, hay milk goat cheese and herbs
- Raw asparagus salad with grapefruit, pistachios and dill tahini dressing
- Vegetarian spring burger with wild garlic hummus, asparagus and halloumi
- Wild garlic pancakes with asparagus, poached egg and orange hollandaise
Wild garlic and asparagus cannelloni with lemon and ricotta filling (recipe for 2 people/one baking dish approx. 20 x 26 cm)
Ingredients for the cannelloni
- about 450 g green asparagus (approx. 14 thin spears, depending on how many cannelloni fit in the mold)
- 125 g drained mozzarella (1 pack)
- 250g ricotta
- 60 g goat’s cream cheese
- Juice and grated zest of 1 organic lemon
- Salt
- pepper
- Piment d’Espelette (or another chili powder)
- about 14 cannelloni (depending on the size of the baking dish)
Ingredients for the wild garlic béchamel sauce
- 150 g wild garlic
- 40g butter
- 40g flour
- 450 ml milk
- Salt
- pepper
- grated nutmeg
- Piment d’Espelette (or another chili powder)
preparation
- Wash the asparagus, cut off the woody ends and peel the lower third if necessary. Halve the sticks. Cut the mozzarella into small pieces. Mix the ricotta, goat’s cream cheese, lemon juice and zest in a bowl and season with salt, pepper and Piment d’Espelette. Pour the mixture into a piping bag and cut off the tip to create an opening about 0.8 cm wide.
- For the wild garlic béchamel, wash the wild garlic, pat dry, remove any coarse stems and roughly chop the leaves. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, then add the flour and sauté while stirring. Slowly pour in the milk and let the béchamel simmer, stirring constantly, until it thickens. Stir in the wild garlic and let it collapse briefly. Then puree everything finely with the hand blender and season with salt, pepper, a little nutmeg and Piment d’Espelette.
- Preheat the oven to 170 °C (fan oven). Put two half asparagus spears into each cannelloni, then pipe in some ricotta filling. Place the filled cannelloni next to each other in a baking dish (approx. 20 x 26 cm). Pour the wild garlic béchamel sauce over the cannelloni and distribute the mozzarella pieces over them. Bake the wild garlic and asparagus cannelloni on the middle rack of the oven for about 30 minutes, until the pasta is cooked through and the mozzarella is golden brown. Divide onto plates and serve immediately.
