Roulade of lettuce, asparagus and sundried tomatoes

On my recent visit to Austria I picked up a cooking magazine I had not seen before, "Wienerin Kochen Spezial", and there is a whole variety of interesting dishes which I am going to experiment with over the next few weeks. The recipes have been compiled with the help of some of Austria's most renowned chefs and a lot of new talent - it's very exciting to see how the restaurant scene is changing!
The following recipe for a roulade of lettuce is by Oliver Hoffinger, who co-owns a sitting-room-sized restaurant - Kochwerkstatt (or lit. "cooking workshop") - on Vienna's Spittelberg. Already earmarked for my next trip!

Roulade of lettuce, asparagus and sundried tomatoes
(serves 6 as a starter)

1 head iceberg lettuce
1 bunch (ca. 125 g) green asparagus
12 sundried tomatoes
1 lemon
1 handful basil (chopped)
6 slices San Daniele ham (very thin)
200 ml fromage frais, fat free
aceto balsamico
nutmeg

Fill a large pot with water, salt and bring to the boil. Using a fork, submerge the iceberg lettuce in the water to ensure the outer leaves soften. Refresh in icecold water, then peel off 6 of the outer leaves, which you will later use as the outer wraps for your roulades. Keep a few more leaves whole, just in case of any tears or other mishaps. Cut the remaining lettuce into strips.
Clean the asparagus removing any tough ends. "Snipping" the stems works best for me, bending them, that is, until they naturally snap where tender meets wooden. Then cut into 1 cm pieces, leaving the tips 3 cm long. Cook in boiling salt water for ca. 5 minutes and refresh in icecold water. Set aside.
Chop the sundried tomatoes. Mix the yoghurt with the juice of ½ a lemon, the basil, and season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Combine with the asparagus and salad.
Now take the lettuce leaves, one at a time, spread them on a chopping board or work surface, place a slice of San Daniele in the middle, arrange two heaped tablespoon of the salad mixture on top and wrap tightly with the lettuce leave. Serve immediately, sprinkled or sprayed with some balsamic vinegar.

Comments

[sher]

Well, that looks very good. I have to admit, I don't like iceberg lettuce very much. When I was a child, that was the only lettuce that most people ate--and I think it's a boring lettuce. But, I can imagine that it works very well in this recipe. I think I will make this, which means I will be buying my first head of iceberg lettuce in years!!!!!!!

Sher