Asparagus Cordon Bleu

Asparagus Cordon Bleu is easy and can be assembled in advance. It’s impressive and elegant enough for your finest dinner party!

Spring is when a young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of love.  Spring is when my thoughts turn to vegetables!  They’re showing up incredibly fresh in grocery stores and hubby and I are planting them now for future veggie abundance!

Honestly, I don’t think there’s any vegetable sexier or better to photograph than asparagus.  Amiright with this photo?

Lower priced asparagus at the market is one of the first harbingers of spring.  Although we have an established asparagus patch, it takes a while for us to harvest enough for a full meal.

What to look for when buying fresh asparagus:

• Make sure it’s bright green with no sign of shriveling.
• It should be difficult to bend.
• The tips should be closed and have no sign that the asparagus came into contact with water (the tips deteriorate rapidly when in contact with moisture).  This can be a little tricky if the market sprays their produce.
• Once home, use within 1-2 days.

How to trim asparagus:

To determine how much to trim from the asparagus, bend one of the stalks until it breaks. Where it breaks is where you should cut the remainder as they’re all typically the same size in the bunch and were probably growing next to each other.

How to make Asparagus Cordon Bleu:

• To get this lovely dish going, you will need to blanch these beautiful babies.  Prepare an ice bath, then get a pot of water to a rolling boil.
• Throw in a generous amount of salt–like a good tablespoon or so.  According to a personal chef mentor of mine, the water should taste like the ocean.
• Drop the asparagus in for about 10-15 seconds or so, just until it turns bright green.
• Quickly remove and drop it into the ice bath.  There’s a whole lot of chemistry going on in that process.  This “shocking” process is going to set the color and keep it from turning any sort of funky green color later.
• Remove from the ice bath and dab it dry on a clean kitchen towel or paper towels.
• Divide the asparagus into six even bundles then wrap in prosciutto (also known as Parma ham).
• Place in a baking dish, sprinkle with Gruyere cheese and breadcrumbs, bake and you have a wonderful show-stopping spring side dish you can make ahead!  Sooo easy!

You don’t need to use imported Italian prosciutto–domestic will do!  Also, this Grand Cru, produced in Wisconsin is a perfectly acceptable substitute for expense Gruyere cheese.

This dish is rustic yet elegant.  Asparagus, prosciutto, melty cheese with a crispy breadcrumb topping.  Mmmwhaaaaah!!!

Let’s eat!

More asparagus recipes you’ll love:

• Chicken Asparagus Divan
• Breakfast Strata with Asparagus, Artichokes, Ham and Gruyere
• Arugula, Egg and Asparagus Salad with Creamy Lemon Vinaigrette
• Asparagus Prosciutto and Fontina Tortino
• Cream of Asparagus and Leek Soup with Curry
• Lemony Lentil, Asparagus and Tomato Salad with Feta Cheese
• Roasted Asparagus with Goat Cheese and Walnut Lemon Gremolata

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