Vegetarian Asparagus Casserole with Grilled Eggplant

Ingredients

• 24 spears white asparagus
• 2 Eggplants
• Salt
• 2 tbsp butter (30 g)
• 2 tbsp spelt whole grain flour
• 500 ml milk (3.5% fat)
• Pepper
• nutmeg
• 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
• 1 bunch chervil
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 100 g vegetarian mountain cheese (45% fat in dry weight)

Instructions

1. 1.

   Peel the asparagus, cut off the woody ends and blanch the asparagus in boiling salted water for 10 minutes. Then drain and set aside.

2. 2.

   Clean, wash and slice the eggplants lengthwise into 1/2 cm thick slices. Sprinkle with salt and set aside.

3. 3.

   Heat the butter in a saucepan. Dust with flour, whisk, pour in the milk and bring to a boil while stirring. Remove from heat and season with salt, pepper, nutmeg and lemon juice.

4. 4.

   Pat the eggplant slices dry and brush with olive oil. Heat a grill pan and pan-fry the slices for 1 minute on both sides.

5. 5.

   Bundle 3 spears of asparagus with 1 eggplant slice and place them in a baking dish. Pour over sauce, sprinkle with cheese. Bake in a preheated oven at 200 °C (fan: 180 °C; gas mark 3) for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with the remaining chervil.