charcuterie wrapped asparagus
April 11, 2014 § 85 Comments
Funny how you think about a certain food and next thing you know you are at the market gathering your ingredients then in your kitchen preparing it. This happened to me yesterday. Out of the blue I thought about proscuitto wrapped asparagus. I have only had this delicacy once and it was quite a few years ago. All I remember is the effort it took cooking a few dozen of them in a skillet. A laborious task for my style of cooking, so I never prepared them again.
Until now. Now I realize your don’t have to toss them around in a hot skillet and watch them unravel. Simply roast them in the oven until the asparagus are tender and the cured meat is crispy. I like simple foods and I like simple ingredients. Salty pork wrapped around fresh spring asparagus and roasted in the oven until crisp is not complicated. And serving a warm soft boiled egg to dunk your asparagus into is perfection itself.
This idea is not original, you can find many versions of these little delights also known as “asparagus soldiers” online. Rather than proscuitto I chose a mixture of salchichon (a Spanish salame), Jamón Serrano (dry cured ham) and chorizo cantimpalo.
I n g r e d i e n t s
- one dozen fat asparagus stalks
- 12 slices of proscuitto or other type of thinly sliced cured meat
- 4 eggs
- olive oil
- salt & pepper
Preheat your oven to 450° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice off the woody ends of each asparagus and discard. Wrap the asparagus stalks in charcuterie. Place the asparagus onto the baking sheet and drizzle with a little olive oil. Roast for about 15 minutes, or until the meat is crispy. While the asparagus is roasting, soft boil your eggs. Fill a saucepan about halfway with water and bring it to a boil. Decrease the temperature so that the water reduces to a rapid simmer and gently lower the eggs into the water one at a time. Cook the eggs for 5-7 minutes: 5 minutes for a yolk that is still runny and 7 minutes for a yolk that is barely set. Drain the eggs and run them under cold tap water for 30-60 seconds. Use a knife or egg-cutter to take the cap off the tip of the egg and serve right away in either an egg cup or use a portion of your egg carton.
COTTAGE GROVE HOUSE 
OH MY WORD! dunking your asparagus in a soft boiled egg… are you kidding?! sounds like heaven.
Oh my word is right…it is so nice to hear from you! :) Yes, a delightful dunking experience, and don’t you think this makes a great breakfast? Thank you for stopping in Audrey…
yes, delightful indeed. how do you get your eggs soft boiled without the shell going everywhere? i wanted to try something similar with toast-sticks but was afraid i’d mess the egg up!
After cooking the eggs run cold water over them for a minute. I used a really sharp knife and just cut the tops off. It seemed to cut fairly easily. Let me know how it turns out if you try it. :)
awesome, thanks so much for the tips, i’ll definitely try that! your dish looks exquisite!!! <3
Looks delicious
Thank you Jovina….
I love this recipe! It’s such an easy but impressive dish, and a great way to use Asparagus. I think this would be a fantastic menu item for a fancy brunch or dinner. Thanks for sharing!
~ Melissa
I agree. It really is impressive and so tasty. Perfect to serve for an appetizer. We actually had them for dinner though! Thank you for visiting Melissa…
Wow, everything about this says perfection! Your eggs look delicious and I’m jealous as I can’t seem to master the soft-boiled egg :-/ But I’ll never give up! Asparagus, proscuitto and eggs… yes please!
I used to soft boil eggs all the time several years ago. I admit, I went into this one a bit overconfident because the first batch of eggs turned out hard boiled! I started over and got the second batch right. The hard boiled eggs were great for lunch the next day… :)
:D At least you “error” provided the next day’s lunch – A happy mistake!
Wow…would you look at those eggs. Perfection. Everything about this post is perfection!
Seana…this is beautiful. I would eat this for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack and dessert. Yes please to all…
I can taste the salty prosciutto with the asparagus, and egg. Oh my… My Oh My…. LOVE. xx
Thank you, thank you Prudy! Hope you had a good week. Looks like we’ll have a sunny weekend so that’s exciting! Perhaps you’ll get some sun too? Plus, I’m on spring break as of now! Yoo hoo! A glass of rosé in hand right now. :)
Looks great!
Lori…what happened to your blog? I can not access it…
It is till there….I hope. :-) Here is the link:
http://creatingbeautyinthekitchen.wordpress.com/
I have noticed that if you click on my name or photo sometimes it sends you to a blog that doesn’t exist. Don’t know how to fix that.
How exotic does that sound :).
Now you mention it…does sound a bit exotic. :)
Simple and so delicious, asparagus and a soft boiled or poached egg is one of my favorites, never tried wrapping in prosciutto, great idea, next time I make it I will do this.
We made a dozen and I imagine normally this would be served as an appetizer with other choices on the table. I served these, sort of as a main course and well, I have a teenage boy with an appetite and I think he ate 8 of them and then he asked what’s for dinner! Lesson learned! :)
Wonderful! Can’t wait for local asparagus so I can make this!
Do make them, they’re wonderful! I just learned the other day that 53 million pounds of asparagus is grown in our state (Washington) every year! We certainly have an abundance and the markets are full of them right now. When is your local asparagus harvested?
Popping them in the oven makes it so easy! Such a great quick, yet still elegant, appie idea.
Sounds like you’ve made them before! Elegant is a great way to describe them. And it’s great to see you here today! Haven’t heard from you in a long time. Thank you for stopping in Kat!
I should have rephrased — have not made them, but think the oven-baking is brilliant so I may not shy away from them now! Life has been full, so behind on blogging and blog-reading :-)
what a fantastico combination of everything that is perfect! And I appreciate dropping everything to run and get ingredients for a must-have dish. Food is funny like that–an idea grabs hold and you have no choice but to obey :-)
ha!…love the way you put it. So true. I actually get stuck on an idea and I can’t shake it until I make it! :)
Look forward to trying this with this year’s crop of asparagus. I approve of your choice of Spanish cured meats – my favourites.
Hi Hilda! I really like the Spanish cured meats with this. I really enjoy proscuitto but these cured meats were nice and spicy. A great flavor with the asparagus. And the egg was so creamy and heavenly with it.
This would be perfect for Easter brunch, love this….. so clever!
Hmmm. Good idea! Must put these on the brunch menu. Didn’t even occur to me, thanks for the idea. :)
Simple, delicious, and classy! I have to try this soon. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you Ngan. :) And thank you for all your lovely comments you leave me!
You can’t get anything better than this! Sounds really great! :-)
Thank you Serena. :) This is such a delightful way to enjoy asparagus. The soft boiled egg really made a difference too. A perfect pairing.
Yes, the combination of eggs and asparagus is really special! :-)
A gorgeous and elegant appetizer. The crispy exterior is so inviting. :-)
Hi Shanna. The crispy exterior is exactly what I enjoyed most about these. Especially in contrast to the soft asparagus. Well, the salty spicy Spanish cured meat was wonderful too. You don’t eat pork..right?
I had an affair with jamón serrano when I lived in Spain. Bad Shanna! :-)
the photographs in here are stunning – i wish i could reach in and grab one! they look delicious!
Even more stunning in real life! :) Hope you get a chance to make them. It’s one of those fool proof recipes that turns out perfectly every time. Thank you for your kind compliment regarding the photographs. I think these were pretty photogenic…
You are very welcome! I hope to make them soon!
Well, hullo, Friday night date. There is something about a solider that will steal a gal’s heart.
:) Indeed. Heart is stolen.
Timing is EVERYTHING – just so happened I bought fresh asparagus and prosciutto this morning at the store – Sunday brunch here we come! :)
Oh yes! You’ll be delighted and so will those around the table. Please let me know how they turn out. I think even a poached egg served on top of three of four of them would be impressive. :)
Now you’re talking, a poached egg would be FABULOUS – I’ll let you know Monday – have a great week-end! :)
Thank you for the Sunday brunch inspiration – it was fabulous – served these with poached eggs and some hollandaise – oh my! :)
I love bacon wrapped asparagus, but this sounds even better! I’ll have to give it a try ;-)
I was thinking about bacon wrapped asparagus but thought it may be a bit too thick. Have you had them like that before? Hmmm. sounds great!
Perfect!
Brilliant!
Your Soldiers look appetizing and the eggs too and who care about originality, the most important is how tasty the are :)
Thank you. :)
Sophisticated nursery food, seriously yum! I’ve been winding prosciutto around asparagus for years and oven baking it. I often serve it as finger food with drinks when the asparagus is at its peak.
So you know exactly how wonderful these are! ;)
Anything wrapped in prosciutto!! Loving the soft egg, too!!
Agree…salty cured meats make things tasty! :)
Decadence for sure. Lovely idea and lovely post.
Thank you so much Conor. :)
Most excellnt combination … a beautiful way to welcome in Spring!
I agree. Thank you! ;)
The charcuterie looks fabulous.
Asparagus wrapped in bacon. How can that go wrong? Your ‘asparagus soldiers’ is a smart idea, Seana!
Thank you Dolly. Always to happy when I see you leave a comment. Hope you are doing well!
I love the mixed meats that you use! I make this with prosciutto as a Thanksgiving side and you can bet I’ll be mixing it up this year!
Proscuitto certainly is nice, and it sort of goes well with a Thanksgiving dinner. That’s a fabulous side! The spicy Spanish cured meats were definitely delicious too.
We love spicy around here! :)
Great idea to do them in the oven. Hungry now!!!
:) Hope you get to try them!
What’s not to love about this dish!? I can imagine how quickly it all disappeared from the table! Delish!
Disappeared too quickly! I asked myself if I should double the amount made, but then I would overeat and perhaps there is too much salt from the cured meat! It’s too delicious to turn down if any are left on the plate. :)
The last time in Barcelona, spending an afternoon with a British friend from art college, I ended up making these for her barbie. Partly as I couldn’t think of anything else as it was a case of buying impromptu at a local mercado. Her friends loved them, and told me they had never tried them before. Such a good way of cooking with asparagus. And so easy. :)
I imagine how impressive this must of been considering they had never tried them before. Also imagine how incredible your charcuterie from Spain must of been. :) I’ll have to try them on the grill next time I light it up. We really enjoy plain asparagus off the grill. It’s a crime how easy!
Oh gosh– that just looks like a good evening around the table with friends. Love the recipe and how simple it looks. thanks!
It hadn’t even occurred to me to make these for Easter Brunch until several have commented with the idea. I think it would be a perfectly plated addition for a table with family and friends. And it is so simple! Thank you Rhonda!
Have a blessed Easter with your family/friends there. I’m sure they’ll be well fed!
Those asparagus soldiers look so beautiful, standing to attention in their lovely porky uniforms. Fabulous charcuterie choices, especially Jamón Serrano – one of my faves. LOVE the idea of dipping the soldiers into gooey boiled eggs. Big YUM.
Ha! Well put. :) Always a pleasure to see you stop in. Enjoy your Easter!
Oh yum! How perfect! I’ve used prosciutto to wrap asparagus before but never any other kind of charcuterie. I’m definitely going to venture further next time… with a soft-boiled egg, of course! xx
Oh good! The spicy charcuterie was really nice with asparagus, and yes, the egg was a show stopper. So creamy and perfect as a dip.
I really enjoy eggs with asparagus. The 2 were meant for each other. Roasting the spears wrapped in prosciutto takes the dish to an entirely different level. This is definitely going to be on my menu once locally grown asparagus hits the markets. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
It is an entirely different level John. I really like crispy proscuitto and wrapped around soft roasted asparagus is so delightful. The soft boiled egg only added more greatness to an already perfect bite!
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