Michigan Asparagus Season
Friends, it is asparagus season in Michigan and I couldn’t be happier. Honestly, I only became aware of the local asparagus season in the last couple of years. I distinctly remember seeing my first asparagus plant in the fields of Newaygo County only 3 or 4 years ago when our friend pointed them out to Bob and I. It’s surprisingly different than you’d expect.
As if discovering what asparagus plants looked like wasn’t interesting enough, my coworker recently started sharing her abundant access to this lovely vegetable with me. Being that her family transports asparagus for a living, she had plenty to share. She’s given me some great material to work with for this blog post! Thanks, Lauren!
Blanched Asparagus (It’s Easy)
If you’ve never blanched asparagus, or anything, here is a quick explanation. Blanching is easy! It’s a process of cooking a vegetable in boiling water for a short amount of time and then transporting it to very cold ice-water to stop the cooking process.
Different vegetables need different amounts of cooking time. For asparagus, I boiled them for 2 minutes and immediately placed the spears in a bowl of ice water. I let them rest for at least 2 minutes (probably longer/until I was ready to dry them and use for my recipe).
*Little “hack” for boiling long stems like asparagus, use a large skillet instead of a pot.
Asparagus Appetizer
This could be a meal, it’s so delicious! Originally, my friend used ham and cream cheese to wrap her asparagus spears. Genius lunch idea! I wanted to add a twist to those snappy asparagus spears she had in her lunchbox. So, here is my fancy version; snappy blanched asparagus spears wrapped in honey goat cheese and prosciutto.
Enjoy this delicious appetizer with some cheese and crackers and fresh fruit! Or, throw this on your next charcuterie board…possibly, just the ingredients and let your guests build their asparagus wraps according to their tastes!
Dairy-Free
I wanted to note that this is nearly a dairy-free recipe, however, goat cheese is considered dairy. It seems, though, that many people with intolerances to dairy from a cow can tolerate dairy from a goat. I am labeling this dairy-free to make this recipe easier to find for people looking for goat dairy recipes that are cow “dairy-free.”
Dairy-Free Blanched Asparagus Appetizer
Ingredients
- 12 spears fresh picked asparagus
- 4 oz honey goat cheese
- 1 package dry-sliced prosciutto
Instructions
- Remove the goat cheese from the fridge to bring closer to room temperature prior to starting the recipe.
- Blanch the asparagus by boiling the spears for two minutes and then transferring to an ice water bath.
- Once the asparagus has rested for at least two minutes in the cold water, remove and dry it off.
- Slice the prosciutto slices in half and layer each half slice with about 1 tsp of goat cheese. Press it onto the prosciutto to spread it.
- Place the asparagus in the center of the prosciutto and goat cheese slice. Wrap the slice around the asparagus.
- Keeps in the fridge for a couple of days or serve and enjoy immediately!
