Roasted Asparagus Lasagna - NYR - YYYYY

2 pounds fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
2 tablespoons Crisco® Pure Olive Oil, divided
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
Dash ground cloves
1-1/2 cups milk
1 cup thinly sliced red onion
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
12 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained
1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Place asparagus and mushrooms in a shallow roasting pan. Drizzle with
1 tablespoon oil; toss to coat. Bake at 450° for 8-10 minutes or
until vegetables are browned; set aside. Reduce heat to 350°.

In a large saucepan, melt butter. Stir in the flour, salt, pepper and
cloves until smooth. Gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil; cook
and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Set aside. In a large
skillet, saute onion and garlic in remaining oil until tender.
Remove from the heat; add roasted asparagus and mushrooms.

In a 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray, layer four
noodles, a third of the asparagus mixture, a third of the white
sauce, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat
layers twice.

Cover and bake at 350° for 35 minutes. Uncover; bake 10-15
minutes longer or until heated through. Let stand for 15 minutes
before cutting. Yield: 12 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 1 piece (prepared with reduced-fat butter, fat-free milk and part-skim mozzarella) equals 216 calories,

Nutrition Facts: 8 g fat (4 g saturated fat), 16 mg cholesterol, 251 mg sodium, 25 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 12 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 2 lean meat, 1-1/2 starch

I discovered I had forgotten I had purchased some fresh asparagus when it was on sale. We have a favorite asparagus recipe, Asparagus and Ham Mornay, that I will share at a later date. However, I wanted to make something different. My friend, Nancy, told me she loves the Taste of Home website for finding new recipes, so off I went, and I found this recipe. (I think it's funny that I decided on this recipe as Nancy dislikes both mushrooms and asparagus!) Since there is just Gary and me to cook for now, I halved* the recipe with no trouble and baked in an 8 x 8 baking dish. Gary and I thought this dish was absolutely delicious, served with some garlic bread made out of ciabatta bread. You also may notice that this recipe uses a lot of preparation dishes. Although I do not have an automatic dishwasher, I am blessed to have a wonderful (human)dishwasher named Gary. We make a great pair. I cook and make the mess and he cleans the mess up.

The only change I would make in the recipe is to increase the amount of asparagus and mushrooms by half. For a full recipe I would use 3 pounds of asparagus and 1 and 1/2 cup of sliced fresh mushrooms. (For half the recipe I would use 1 1/2 pounds of asparagus and 3/4 cup of sliced fresh mushrooms.) I also need to experiment with how to heat up any leftovers. Microwaving seemed to make the cheese/noodles too dense and overcooked the vegetables. So you might want to make the smaller batch, unless you're having company!

(Reminder: NYR = New Year's Resolution and YYYYY is at the top of the "Yummy Rating."

*Ingredients for half the recipe:

1 1/2 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
3/4 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 tablespoons Crisco® Pure Olive Oil, divided
1 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
salt and white pepper to taste
Dash ground cloves
3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
6 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained
3/42 cup (3 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese