Monday, April 24, 2017

Asperges et jambon en croûte

So, on Friday I made asparagus spears wrapped in ham and puff pastry for lunch. It worked out pretty well, if I do say so myself. I had peeled and steamed the white asparagus a day or two before. I wrapped three or four spears inside a slice of ham, but not before adding some grated Swiss-style cheese. I had four of these "rolls." Then, I cut a store-bought puff pastry crust into four pieces and wrapped each one around a ham and asparagus roll. Into a hot oven they went for about fifteen to twenty minutes.

Melted cheese is oozing out of my "spears in a blanket."

The result was delicious, if not beautiful. Next time I will try to make the pastry a little less boring looking by adding some kind of pattern with a knife, or even by using pastry strips rather than a uniform sheet. It won't change the taste, but it might look a little more appetizing.

The recipe is just a riff off the asparagus and ham tart I often make this time of year, but without the egg custard. I got that recipe from a television cooking show several years ago. The original recipe made individual appetizer-sized tarts and used jambon de Bayonne (a kind of prosciutto-style cured ham). I morphed that into a larger tart with standard cooked ham in place of the cured stuff.

8 comments:

  1. They look delicious. Anything in puff pastry is wonderful!! When I see some asparagus I'll give the recipe a try

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  2. Wow. They look even better than I imagined. My mouth is watering.

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  3. Can you rework the store-bought puff pastry to get rectangles from circles?

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  4. There's a similar-style appetizer that we've done here (learned from a friend who learned from Pillsbury, probably ;) ), with pretty much these same ingredients... I think a spreadable white cheese with herbs, though ... and just maybe two spears of asparagus at a time... wrapped with a long strip of store-bought puff pastry (we usually wrap all down the spears, you know? without overlapping? like a spiral wrap, maybe?). Bake for a bit, then cut the spears into something like 2-inch pieces. Nice appetizer. Your dish looks fabulous!

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  5. This is something I must try - it looks fabulous.
    Hope you're all getting a good nights' sleep tonight - especially Callie. You'll be run off your feet once Tasha's arrived ! Looking forward to lots of photos.

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  6. I would have added a little mustard...I hope Tasha Tuesday goes well with Callie and Bert!

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  7. How clever and wonderful! This is worth imitating ! thank you.!

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