Once upon a time, I lived in Rome. I studied abroad in Italy for a semester during my days at Penn State. It was a wonderful 4 months, in which every aspect of my life was distilled down to the bare essentials, with no car, no cell phone, and only a basic working knowledge of the Italian language. Some beautiful things happened during my months in Roma – not the least of which was having access to absolutely fresh food in local markets, and the resultant lessons I learned in simple, tasteful cooking.

It seems fitting to relate my time in Italy to a dish with decidedly Italian influences. Prosciutto is a very salty cured ham that is sliced very thin. It makes an excellent compliment to sweet and savory flavors with its salty bite. In fact, a quintessential Italian dish is wrapping cantaloupe with prosciutto: Prosciutto e melone. Mmmm, it brings back good memories. Here we will be lightly sauteing asparagus in a bit of olive oil, adding in some roasted yellow peppers, wrapping it all up in a slice of prosciutto, and topping with a little bit of zested parmesean cheese (one of the few recipes here in which you’ll see us use dairy.)

Ingredients:

• 1/3 lb Prosciutto, sliced thinly
• 1 bundle (1 lb) of Asparagus
• 1 small jar of organic roasted yellow pepper
• 1 tablespoon of finely shredded parmesean (if desired)
• Olive oil for sauteing
• Cracked Pepper
  

Process:

1. Wash and cut asparagus to length. To determine the correct length of asparagus, simply bend it in half like a stick until it breaks. If you want to do the pile in a hurry, lay this broken piece down as a guide and chop all the rest at once.
2. Heat nonstick skillet to medium heat.
3. Toss the cut pieces of asparagus with olive oil in bowl, then add to the skillet.
4. Saute the asparagus until slightly tender.
5. Cut the asparagus into approx 2″ lengths, or about as long as your prosciutto is wide. (see the photo below)
   
6. Lay out a slice of prosciutto, place approx 12 pieces of asparagus and 1 or 2 pieces of roasted pepper in the center.
   
7. Roll it all up. If you can plate several wraps together, you wont need to hold them together with toothpicks. If they are standing alone, you may need to – its your call.
8. As a garnish, you can shave a little parmesean cheese to sprinkle on top. We suggest using a microplane to get the most fine grating possible. If you don’t have one already – get it! They’re great for zesting citrus as well, which we’ll surely cover sometime soon in a recipe. As always – Enjoy!