"This is good!"   my mom exclaimed after she took a bite of my oven-roasted, prosciutto wrapped asparagus, courtesy of  Ilva’s recipe.  She sounded and looked very surprised as she continued to eat it.  She’s right:  It WAS good. 

I mentioned in a previous post that I never used to like eggplants — till I started cooking.  Well, you can add asparagus to my list of ‘Foods I Never Liked Before Until I Started Cooking’.  Back in the day, I’d purse my lips, scrunch my face and turn away from the offending green spear.  I tried to keep asparagus far away from my plate.  Today, I love asparagus — especially roasted.  In this recipe, the prosciutto added an extra special delicious taste.  Yup!  It tasted good, indeed.  Thanks, Ilva!

Paz

Oven-Roasted Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus

Lucullian Delights

Fresh green asparagus, not too thin stalks

Prosciutto crudo or Parma ham

Extra-virgin olive oil

- Clean the asparagus, snap off the lower part, you can peel it if it is to thick skinned.

-  Wrap approximately half a slice of Parma ham around each asparagus stalk, you have to judge yourself as the size of the slices may vary.

-  Grease an oven-proof form with a litle olive oil and put one layer of asparagus in it.

- Bake in a pre-heated oven (175°C/347°F) until the ham is crisp and the asparagus has softened.  It takes about 10-15 minutes.