Delicious Asparagus Side Dish

This past Saturday we had no plans for dinner -highly unusual for me since I usually plan our meals a week at a time. But this Saturday was complicated with church, softball, and party plans. I wasn't sure who was going to be around for dinner or when or where dinner would take place, and frankly I was too tired to think of a plan. But alas we did have dinner! After softball - and the post-softball ice cream - two of my children, one of their friends, and my husband and I were home for a late dinner. I used some of my "emergency" freezer stash of pasta sauce (puttanesca, this time) and made spaghetti.

I also had some fresh asparagus and prosciutto with some vague idea, but no real recipe, of preparing them together. To find a recipe I went to www.allrecipes.com, a site I would highly recommend. The site has a feature where you can search for a recipe based on ingredients you want to include. When I typed in asparagus and prosciutto, two recipes came up in the search results. Reading the recipes and others' comments on the recipes, I came up with the recipe below. I use this strategy often. I would recommend that you search for several similar recipes and adapt, combine, and modify them as suits your tastes and cooking style. There are a lot of great recipes out there just waiting for you to tinker with!

Asparagus with Prosciutto and Provolone

1 bunch of asparagus, washed and trimmed
8 slices of prosciutto
4 slices of provolone
canola cooking spray

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Wrap half a slice of provolone cheese, followed by a slice of prosciutto around a bundle of 3 pieces of asparagus. Place wrapped bundle in a baking dish.
• Repeat with remaining asparagus.
• Spray with canola cooking spray.
• Bake for about 15 minutes.

I have to say that we enjoyed this and it was so easy to make.