Asparagus wrapped with Proscuitto

Mario and I went to a cottage party this past weekend with about 15 friends (and no kids - YAY!). Each couple brought their own food... things like souvlaki, kebobs, pasta salad, green salads, chicken breasts... People were commenting, "remember back in the day when we used to bring only hotdogs and hamburgers? We must be getting old, everyone brought VEGETABLES". Pan over to Mario and I... we brought hotdogs, hamburgers, and canned beans. Well my excuse is that not only was I taking the weekend off from blogging and being a Mom, I was taking the weekend off from cooking too!

To redeem myself in the eyes of my peers, I have decided to post a vegetable recipe today.

I like this recipe for serving to guests because you can parboil the asparagus ahead of time and then get it all ready to pop into the oven for 5-10 minutes just before dinner is served. Actually, I have been making this recipe for so long that I do it from memory. I guess that was a bad thing, because when I dug out the original recipe to type out for this post, I noticed that I was supposed to dust the finished product with paprika. This is a step that must have gotten lost over the years, but the picture in the recipe book sure did look purty.

Asparagus Wrapped with Proscuitto
from Williams-Sonoma "Vegetables"

16 Asparagus Spears
4 thin slices Proscuitto
2 tbsp butter
freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 tsp paprika
1 lemon quartered.

1. Fill a frying pan with enough water to cover the asparagus and bring to a boil.

2. Trim the asparagus and add to the boiling water. Cook uncovered for about 3-4 minutes.

3. Divide asparagus into bundles and wrap 1 proscuitto slice around the middle of each bundle.

4. Place the bundles in a greased casserole dish. Dot with butter and sprinkle evenly with cheese and pepper.

5. When you are ready to serve, bake at 350°F for 5-10 minutes until cheese starts to brown. Remove from the oven and dust with paprika. Serve with lemon wedges.