Baby Asparagus Wrapped in Prosciutto

Quick appetizers made from asparagus wrapped in prosciutto or Parma ham are perfect finger food for parties.

I first tried these beautiful morsels on my birthday last year, exactly one year ago today, made by the lovely Nicola.  That night was the first time we became reacquainted since we all lived in Abu Dhabi back in the late ‘80s.  During this past year we’ve have spent much time in Nicky's company, enjoying the warm hospitality of the home she shares with our dear friend, David.  As another birthday rolls around and I take stock of my blessings, David and Nicky are up near the very top of the list.  They gave me my birthday gift early since they are traveling this week and it almost made me cry.  This photo was from the olden days, more than 25 year ago.  They had it scanned and improved from an old print.  Then framed it.  Isn't that the best gift?!

Me and my sweetie, Abu Dhabi, circa 1988

Baby Asparagus Wrapped in Prosciutto

Prosciutto crudo is ham that has been cured and aged, so while technically it is uncooked, it is safe to eat, not to mention delicious. If it comes from the right region of Italy, it can also be called Parma ham but any prosciutto will do here. You can substitute thicker asparagus and use only one or two in each roll, but I prefer baby asparagus because they cook more quickly so they are done by the time the prosciutto is golden and crispy. Plus, look how pretty! You are going to love these wrapped asparagus!  So easy and so delicious!

Ingredients
100g or 3 1/2 oz baby asparagus
120g or 4 1/4 oz thinly sliced (raw cured, not dried) prosciutto
Olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

Method
Cut the tough dry ends off the bottoms of your asparagus.

Separate the slices of prosciutto and slice them each in half lengthwise.

Prepare your cooking pan by drizzling it all over with the olive oil.

Here’s where you are going to have to do a little math on your own.  Determine how many half slices of prosciutto you have.  My package had 10 slices so I had 20 long halves.

Now count your asparagus spears and figure out how many you can put in each roll.  You may have a few remainders, as we used to say in long division.  I had 86 spears, divided by 20 = 4.3.  So, for me, each roll could have 4 spears and six of those rolls could have five.  Take out the thinnest spears to be your remainders so you can add them in to the last however many rolls.

Okay, ready to roll?   Starting near the top of the asparagus spears, roll them up as tightly as you can in the prosciutto.

Go once around the top and then start angling the roll so that you finish near the bottom.

Place the rolls in your prepared cooking pan and turn them over in the olive oil to coat.

The broiler or grill in my oven has a very narrow range so I lined mine up so the prosciutto was in the middle.  If yours works better, you can spread them around the pan.

Cook under the grill or broiler of your oven until they have cooked on one side, turn them over to brown on the other.  For some of you, this may happen quite quickly so don’t walk away and do keep a close eye on them.

When crispy on both sides, remove to a serving plate and sprinkle them with a generous helping of freshly ground black pepper.  These can be served immediately or later at room temperature.  I must confess that my husband was traveling when I made these and I munched on them all morning until they were all gone.

As when Nicky served them, these go great with a glass of Champagne.  Or whatever your favorite tipple.  Enjoy!

Here are a few other appetizer recipes you might enjoy:

• Bacon Jalapeño Poppers by Cravings of a Lunatic
• Cheesy Melt by Kiss My Smoke
• Turkey Meatballs with Blackberry Sauce by Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker
• Loaded Sweet Potato Waffle Fries by Food Done Light
• Bacon Wrapped Smokies with Brown Sugar by What's Cooking, Love?
• Almond Crusted Baked Eggplant by Je suis alimentageuse
• Crab Rangoon Dip by Rants From My Crazy Kitchen
• Mustard and Gruyere Batons by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Spiced Nuts by My Catholic Kitchen
• Crispy Cheese Twists by Life Off the Clock
• Baked Sriracha Bites by Organized Island
• Mini Pita Pizzas by Home Cooking Memories
• Slow Cooker Salsa Pulled Chicken Sliders by Cupcakes & Kale Chips
• Green Hummus by Mom's Test Kitchen
• Baked Mozzarella Sticks by Try Anything Once Culinary
• Low Sodium Cauliflower-Potato Bites by Cookerati
• Pickled Pepper and Pepperoni Puff Pastry Pizza/Pinwheels by Farm Fresh Feasts
• Sriracha Chicken Pockets by Lemons for Lulu
• Baby Asparagus Wrapped in Prosciutto by Food Lust People Love
• Crispy Baked Green Bean Fries by Dizzy Busy and Hungry
• Smoked Salmon Dip by Wonky Wonderful
• Low Carb Monster Fingers by Yours and Mine are Ours

Feta-Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes with Shrimp

Feta-Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes with Shrimp are exactly what they sound like: Cherry tomatoes filled with seasoned feta and topped with shrimp make one of the prettiest, easiest appetizers you can serve.

I'd like to tell you that I made this with football games in mind but, truthfully, it was a great snack for taking on the sailboat.  I popped them in a small container and put it in the cooler with the cold beverages. Finger food and appetizers are great for picnics or celebrations of any kind!

Ingredients
14 oz or 400g shrimp, peeled and deveined (about 14 medium sized)
Olive oil
14 cherry tomatoes
3 1/2 oz or 100g goat milk feta cheese
1 tablespoon plain yogurt
Small bunch green onions
Freshly ground black pepper

Method
Gently sauté the shrimp in a drizzle of olive oil until just cooked.  Set aside to cool.  I cooked them with the tails still on then took them off.  It doesn't make a difference so you can just as easily take the tails off first.

Cut the tops off of your cherry tomatoes and run the knife around the inside to loosen the flesh.

Scoop the insides out.  I used my quarter teaspoon measuring spoon, which worked beautifully.  Discard the seeds.

Cut just a tiny slice of skin off the bottoms of the tomatoes so that they will stand upright.  Lay the tomatoes, hollow side down, on some paper towels.

Mince all but two or three of your green onions.  You'll need a few kept long for garnish.

Crumble your feta cheese in a small bowl, add in the yogurt, the minced green onion and a few generous grinds of fresh black pepper.  Mix thoroughly.

Fill the tomatoes with the seasoned feta.

Cut your remaining green onions into short lengths.  Poke a piece of green onion into the feta.

Put one shrimp on top of each filled tomato.  Press gently to stick the shrimp down.

Keep chilled until ready to serve.

Enjoy!

Visit all the other Appetizer Week Blogs for more Snack Time Deliciousness:

• Meatball Bites by Cravings of a Lunatic
• Gluten Free Onion Butter Pretzels by Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker
• Crawfish Dip by Call Me PMc
• Low-Carb Shrimp Guacamole by Yours and Mine Are Ours
• Bourbon Pulled Pork Sliders by Cooking in Stilettos
• Sun-dried Tomato Dip by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Sriracha Butternut Hummus by Farm Fresh Feasts
• Margherita Pizza Sticks by Makobi Scribe
• Chicken Parmesan Meatballs by Flavor Mosaic
• Feta-Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes with Shrimp by Food Lust People Love
• Ham and Sauerkraut Balls by From Gate to Plate
• Cheddar Cayenne Crackers by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Baked Pickle Chips by Lemons for Lulu
• Cheddar Cheese Olive Puffs by Life Off the Clock
• Manchego and Roasted Pepper Stuffed Mushrooms by The Little Ferraro Kitchen
• Restaurant-Style Chipotle Salsa by Home Cooking Memories
• Mango Jalapeno Sausage Rolls by Food Done Light
• Ham & Cheese Mini Cracker Sandwiches by Mom's Test Kitchen
• Spicy Cheese Rounds by Try Anything Once Culinary
• Low Sodium Chicken Stuffed jalapeno Poppersby Cookerati

Pin these Feta-Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes with Shrimp!

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Big Be Mine Heart Cookie #CreativeCookieExchange

Bake a Big Be Mine Heart Cookie for your sweetheart. A big M&M cookie cake baked in a heart pan and decorated with red sugar icing: Be Mine!

Giant M&M cookies make the best Valentines.  Who could say no to such a blatantly sweet and clearly heartfelt request? Be Mine!

I have an enormous amount of optimism about the creativity and potential of the human race.  Just when we think that every idea has been thought, every invention must have been created, someone comes up with something so brilliant and simple that the rest of us all slap our foreheads and wonder why WE didn’t think of it!  It’s so OBvious, right?  This is a silly example of that but take, for instance, those cookies that are as big as cakes.

When I was growing up, we had cakes and we had cookies. And then suddenly, there were cookies as big as cakes and they were being decorated for birthdays! Who had that idea first? I’ve done a little research and even Wikipedia doesn’t seem to have a clue. And those people make stuff up when they don't know. I'm certain of it. (In other news, I’m thinking I could write a Wikipedia article and take credit now.)

Anyway, to cut a long story short (I know – too late!) I’ve made a cookie cake for this month’s Creative Cookie Exchange Pink and Red challenge because I have a red silicon heart-shaped pan and there’s hardly anything prettier than a huge cookie Valentine. Plus, this falls right in the middle of Appetizer Week, which started with Cocktail Day and it's also my birthday week!  So I couldn't do a regular sized cookie, it had to be something big and fun!

Big Be Mine Heart Cookie

Ingredients
For the cookie:
2 cups or 250g flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups, firmly packed, or 300g light brown sugar
1/2 cup or 115g butter, at room temperature plus a little more for buttering your baking pan
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 12 oz or 340g bag M&Ms (I used the red, white and pink Valentines edition milk chocolate ones.)

For the icing, to write your message of LOVE:
1 cup or 125g powdered sugar
2 teaspoons butter, at room temperature
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-3 teaspoons milk
Paste food coloring (I used Wilton No-Taste Red.)

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and butter your baking pan really well.

In a small mixing bowl, combine your flour, baking powder and salt and mix well.

Cream your butter and sugar together until you have a nice smooth homogeneous mixture.

Add in the eggs and vanilla and beat again.

Now take a heaping 1/4 cup or about 55-60g of M&Ms and set them aside to decorate the top of the cookie before baking.   Mix the rest of the package into the dough.

Spoon the dough into the prepared pan and spread it around evenly to all corners.

Decorate the top with the reserved M&Ms.

Bake in your preheated oven for about 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the middle.

Allow to cool for few minutes before inverting and removing from the pan.  Turn pretty side up once more and allow to cool completely before adding any icing.

To make the icing, combine the sugar, butter, salt and vanilla together with two of the teaspoons of milk and mix thoroughly.

 Depending on your powdered sugar you could need the last teaspoon of milk to get a writing consistency.  Add it in, if necessary.  Then add in some food coloring paste.

This stuff is very hard to quantify.  I usually dip the tip of my everyday knife in the little pot and scoop out perhaps a quarter teaspoonful.  If you use an actual quarter teaspoon, it is very hard to get all the coloring out of the well of the spoon and you end up washing it out.  Which is a waste.  Using a knife allows you to scrape it completely clean.

Mix the coloring in thoroughly.  If you want to add more, always use a clean knife to dip into your color pot.  Keep in mind that the icing will darken somewhat as it rests and even once it's on the cookie.

When the cookie cake is completely cooled, decorate it with the icing in a piping bag and a small round tip.  Have fun with it!  (You'll probably have icing left over for another project.  It can be kept in the refrigerator or even frozen.)

Cut in small squares to serve.

Enjoy!

If you are looking for inspiration for Valentines Day, I’ve got some great cookies for you today, all following the theme of Red and Pink:

• Big Be Mine Cookie from Food Lust People Love
• Glazed Doughnut Cookies from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Iced Vovos from All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Jam Sandwich Cookies from A Baker's House
• Pomegranate Cheesecake Cookies from It's Yummi!
• Strawberry Rhubarb Meringues from The Spiced Life 
• Valentine Fairy Cookies from NinjaBaking.com
• Valentine Heart Cookies from Noshing With The Nolands

You can also just use the Creative Cookie Exchange as a great resource for cookie recipes - Be sure to check out our Facebook page,  our Pinterest Board and our monthly posts.  You will be able to find them the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month!

Big shout out to our host and organizer, Laura at The Spiced Life!  The Creative Cookie Exchange is her baby.

If you are a food blogger who would like to join the Creative Cookie Exchange, send an email with your URL to Laura at thespicedlife AT gmail DOT com and she will get you added to our Facebook group, where we discuss our cookies and share links.