Growing up, I hated asparagus. I thought it tasted weird, had an odd texture and was downright lousy. These days my opinion has completely changed and I think it's one of the tastiest veggies out there. Naturally it took a piece of cured meat to change all of that. That's right, prosciutto-wrapped asparagus was how I took the plunge from asparagus hater, to asparagus lover. And while I've learned to love asparagus in most any form, there's nothing quite as tasty as when it's wrapped in pork.
The traditional recipe for prosciutto-wrapped asparagus calls for you to blanch them first. However our pals at Slashfood claim you can skip the blanching step and roast them directly. Not wanting to dirty another pan, I decided to take their advice. It came out perfectly, and made for a wonderfully quick, delicious appetizer. If you want to see how to do it — with or without blanching — just read more.
Roasting without Blanching Method
To create the asparagus seen here, I cut the woody ends of the asparagus off. Next I cut pieces of prosciutto with kitchen shears (to create smaller pieces easily), and then wrapped them around the stems. I roasted them directly on a pan in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes. I used skinny asparagus stalks, for larger stalks, you'll want to up the cooking time.
From Whole Foods
Ingredients
20 stalks of asparagus
4 thin slices of prosciutto, fat removed
4 teaspoons unsalted butter
freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated Reggiano Parmesan
1 lemon, quartered
Directions
- Cut off tough ends of asparagus. Cover asparagus with water in a skillet; bring to a boil and cook until tender but still firm, 3–4 minutes. Drain well.
- Divide asparagus into 4 bundles of 3 stalks each. Wrap prosciutto slice around center of bundle. Place the bundles into oven-proof dish; dot with butter; season with pepper, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Place in the oven to brown the cheese, 4–5 minutes.
- Serve with lemon wedge.
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Carvela
Rick Owens
Barbara Bui
See, I dont like these. I think I am the only person that doesnt. I hate it when I see these on a menu. I like asp., and I like pros. but I dont like the combo of them wrapped together.
1Mmmm! I bet they'd be yummy with a little sprinkled Parm and/or truffle oil. But my motto is "more is more!" These look tasty!
2My aunt made this as an appetizer at a party once, and it's divine!
3they do sound yummy!
4i saw giada make these a few weeks ago and even my asparagus hating hubby liked them. i roasted w/ olive oil, salt, and pepper, THEN wrapped in prosciutto and seved at room temp. FANTASTIC!!
5I was watching Rachel Ray last week and saw her do this. I tried it out last Sunday and it was so yummy. She advised to blanch the asparagus for 2 minutes. I then took 4-5 pieces of asparagus and wrapped 2 pieces of prosciutto around each bundle and grilled on my grill pan for maybe 6-10 minutes until all sides were crispy. My hubby LOVED it and I am going to add this to the menu of my next dinner party.
6Mmmm! Cured meat makes everything better
I actually really liked canned asparagus as well for some reason.
7My mother in law takes bunches of three wrapped in one slice of prosciutto, the best!!
8I'm with you Yum: asparagus was once my most hated veggie, and now I love it. If I'd had them with prosciutto sooner I probably would have loved it sooner.
9I love this...too bad my bf hates asparagus so whenever I make it, he doesn't touch it...actually...leaves more for me! Yay.
10yay! glad you didn't have to waste time to blanch the asparagus (wait, rachael actually took time away from her 30 min to blanch them?!?!) and really, who needs the olive oil when all that glistening fat comes a'rendering out of the prosciutto? oh geez, i may have to make these again this weekend!
11Y'all making me hongry.
12oh yum, light and tasty
13Yum! And I'm with you Giggle "More is More". Less is more is one of my pet peeves. I hate that saying.
14Love these! My mom makes them alot and they're so refreshing.
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