Roasted Asparagus Wrapped in Prosciutto

I've had these at parties for years and really enjoy their freshness and simplicity. So I finally decided to whip up a batch for myself. You can make these with steamed or blanched asparagus, if you prefer that to roasted (although I looove roasted asparagus and recommend you try it). You can also wrap these before you roast them (without the cheese) and serve hot. But I enjoy them cold (and let's not forget, with cheese). I want to say this is a really quick recipe, but the truth is that my prosciutto was sliced so thin that it was ripping like crazy. So I kind of struggled with peeling it out of the packaging. But I was able to patch up the rips with the cream cheese and in the end, it was worth the effort.

 

ROASTED ASPARAGUS WRAPPED IN PROSCIUTTO

Yield: 12 to 16

1 lb. fresh asparagus (about 19 stalks), ends trimmed (stalks peeled if very thick)

6 to 8 thin slices good-quality prosciutto, halved

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

8 oz. cream cheese* or goat cheese, softened

* chive/onion and garlic/herb cream cheeses are nice too

1.     Preheat oven to 400º F.

2.     Place the asparagus on a sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil and toss. Roast until tender, about 15 minutes (depending on thickness of the asparagus). Cool completely.

3.     Spread prosciutto slices with cheese.

4.     Wrap prosciutto around 1 to 3 asparagus spears (depending on their thickness), leaving the tips and bottoms exposed.

5.     Serve at room temperature or chilled.

adapted from Giada DeLaurentiis

trimmed asparagus

Just bend each spear until the bottom snaps off easily.

oiled raw asparagus

I don't recommend seasoning it
with salt (the prosciutto is salty).

roasted asparagus

I know, it doesn't look much different
from the raw - at least not in the photo.
Up close there are some brown spots.

spreading cream cheese on prosciutto
(I used chive/onion.)

asparagus on the prosciutto

If your asparagus is very thick, you may only need one
spear (if it's very thin, you might want to use three).

I opted to leave my prosciutto wide and slice it in half
widthwise instead of lengthwise. You can do it any way you
like (it depends on how you want it to look and what you want
your asparagus to prosciutto ratio to be when you're eating it).

wrapping

roasted asparagus wrapped in prosciutto

.