Monday, June 28, 2010

For the love of asparagus

I love good asparagus. With our extended cool spring, it's been all over the farmers markets. I love cooking clean with it, or if we have guests, baking it into a tart with some tasty Gruyere. But the way I usually eat is simply roasted with a little olive oil, juice of a lemon, and some salt and pepper.

Here's how I usually eat it.
Here's a link to my asparagus tart.

And then came along this.
Bacon + asparagus = WIN
Yes, that's what you think it is. Little evening shawls of bacon wrapped around the asparagus spears. I sliced the bacon lengthwise in order to have thinner pieces, then in half, because really, I only wanted to use a few pieces. This was to be more about the asparagus than the bacon. I am not a bacon freak (you know what I'm talking about), but I do value the flavor a small bit of bacon can give to a dish.

Bacon shawls on the asparagus
Just wrap them around a bit, place on baking pan (with lipped edge), and roast in a 425 degree oven for 20 minutes. Check on it periodically to make sure the bacon isn't burning. Remove from oven and rest spears on a plate with paper towels.

These make a great lunch with a salad, or with eggs for breakfast. But then again, fresh seasonal asparagus is always good. With a little bacon? Amazing.

10 comments:

Amy - the gazelle said...

I did something similar for my husbands 40th bday party - I used prosciutto & spread a week bit of cream cheese on it before wrapping up the asparagus & baking. DIVINE! :)

Love asparagus. And bacon. And things wrapped in bacon.

Amy - the gazelle said...

*a WEE bit* not a week bit...that could potentially be a lot of cream cheese.

LeLo said...

I'm known to stick close to the table if there are bacon wrapped scallops at a party. Just sayin'.

Cher said...

Oh. My. GAWD. Yes!

Best Wishes, Marie said...

anything with bacon. even a plain slice. the idea of having it with asparagus, sounds heavenly.

i once had the pleasure of being in germany when the schpagel (spelling) came into season. the white asparagus. they bury it and as it grows they keep burying it so that it never becomes green.

it is so tender and served with a hollandaise sause. not a side veggie, but the whole meal.

worth timing a trip to experience this fresh and seasonally.

purpletwinkie said...

You had me at "Little evening shawls of bacon".

Try:
Room temp blanched asparagus
Fresh lemon juice spritz
+ Drizzle of black truffle oil

Top with Parmesan shavings/curls

Heather said...

OMG! You had me first with asparagus and Gruyere, and then bacon? Makes me sad it's long gone here.

PS - I did the roasted balsamic strawberries today - yum! Thanks for sharing.

Desert Diva said...

A new recipe to try! In the winter in Yuma, you can get a "bundle" for $1.00 (Mexican grown). So very delicious! :-)

danger garden said...

Yours look stunning! I do the same as Amy with prosciutto but no cream cheese. Plus you can up the ratio...I use 3-4 stalks of asparagus to one of prosciutto. And it's so so so thin that its way more healthy than bacon but just as good. Heaven!

A Lewis said...

Shawls. Hee hee.