Asparagus & Prosciutto

Posted by Cara and Phoebe - May 19th 2010

SPRING DINNER MENU: Seared Salmon with Green Sauce; Asparagus Spears with Burrata & Prosciutto; Warm Blue Potato & Green Onion Salad; Lemon Tart with Cream

It’s rare that I splurge on expensive ingredients like proscuitto and buffalo mozzarella. But when I lived in Rome, it was easy enough to make a meal out of a few slices of high quality cured meat, combined with a few bites of silky cheese, rounded out some crusty bread dipped in olive oil. Meals like this don’t really need recipes. When the quality of these items is so high, as they are in the standard supermarket in Italy, nothing else really matters.

Needless to say, we usually don’t rely on ingredients like $26/lb Serrano Ham to round out our recipes. But the other day I had dinner at Piadina, a cute little Italian restaurant in the West Village, and when it came time to order, I was craving prosciutto. My appetizer was the simplest creation of homemade ricotta, blanched thick asparagus spears, and thinly sliced prosciutto, beautifully arranged to allow me to orchestrate each bite just so.

I recreated the dish for lunch the other day, and was surprised how far I could stretch the ingredients and how affordable they ended up for only one or two servings.

Every now and then, it’s nice to pamper yourself.

From my kitchen, albeit small, to yours,

Phoebe, THE QUARTER-LIFE COOK


**Recipe**


Asparagus Spears with Burrata & Prosciutto
Makes 1-2 serving


I found domestic prosciutto at the deli counter for $15/lb, which ended up being very cheap when only buying a quarter pound. Just see what kind of specials your supermarket has. Sometimes, burrata can be surprisingly cheap as well.
Ingredients
1/2 lb asparagus, trimmed
1/4 lb prosciutto
1/4 lb burrata
olive oil
coarse sea saltBring a large pot of heavily salted water to boil. With a vegetable peeler, shave the asparagus stalks. Blanch in the boiling water for 1 minutes. Seriously, this will not take long. Remove to an ice bath or colander in the sink under running very cold water.Arrange the prosciutto on one side of the plate. Coarsely tear the burrata and arrange on the other side of the plate. Dry the asparagus stalks and pile them in the middle. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.

Posted in: Recipe Flash

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  • Frankie

    I usually get lazy about paring the asparagus stems but after looking at your beautiful photograph I’m going to get cracking!

  • http://www.alittleginger.com Maddie

    This reminds me of latest favorite lunch. All I need is a warm baguette, butter for spreading, and thinly-sliced radishes and sea salt to top it all off. Bonus points if I’ve got cheese or honey on hand as alternate toppings! If it’s the weekend, wine is always involved as well.

    Clearly I love simple lunches, so this is one I’ll have to try too!

  • Anonymous

    This is definitely on my list of all time favorite meals. I did burrata with ramps and olive oil earlier this spring. Mmm. So happy that it’s asparagus season!

  • http://www.meganlaneisinyourears.blogspot.com Megan Lane

    mmm i love the combination of asparagus and prosciutto! i never had prosciutto when i was in Italy.. i bet it is amazing there! and with a creamy cheese.. yum!

  • Wendy

    Divine! So easy :)

  • http://www.happyolks.com/ Kelsey

    mmm… prosciutto will be my inspiration for tonights meal! thanks so much, love love love your blog! I’ll be back often - bookmark!

  • http://www.icanbejello.wordpress.com brooklynite

    It was a precise affair when I was in college and wanted to dirty up as little dishes as possible. First, I’d boil water in a pot and add my pasta - just enough for one person. Then, I’d take my red bowl, which I ate everything out of, and put just a tiny bit of Annie’s Goddess salad dressing. Then, I put some of that pre-washed salad mix (whatever was on sale that week) straight from the bag into the bowl, and put some more of whatever dressing I was using (it was almost always Annie’s). While the pasta cooked, I ate the first course - my salad. By the time I was finished the pasta was ready. Using tongs (no colander here) I put the pasta directly from the pot of water into my bowl which had some dressing remaining and quickly tossed it to coat. I’d poach an egg in that remaining pasta water, and then put the egg on top the pasta. The egg would break so that all the runny yolk would coat those pasta strands. I’d add some fresh pepper and salt too if needed. The pasta coated with some of that remaining salad dressing, a runny egg and fresh pepper was so satisfying. And I felt like I was having two courses.

    • http://www.icanbejello.wordpress.com brooklynite

      this was meant to be in your giveaway post…i will copy and paste

  • Anna McVerry

    I love it all!

  • Anna McVerry

    I love them all!

  • Martha

    I love your site and have spent many happy hours perusing it!

    Maybe this is a dumb question, but what is burrata?

    • http://www.biggirlssmallkitchen.com/ BGSK

      Not dumb at all! Burrata is like mozzarella, but milkier in the center and firmer on the outside. You can sub in buffalo mozzarella if you can’t find it!