Ham - Asparagus Rolls

The other day, my Dad sent me an email to let me know that he and my Mom were eating one of my favourite dinners (ham and asparagus rolls) while I was in England, probably eating some form of fish and chips or other, equally English food.

My mother has a row of asparagus that's as long as their house, so I ate a lot of asparagus as a kid, I guess. To be more exact, I ate asparagus at pretty much every meal in May and June for most of my life. It's a flavour that grows on you, really. But because asparagus was so plentiful and free at home, I kind of resent having to pay for it now. So I don't eat a lot of asparagus anymore.

On my lunch break today, I walked in a torrential downpour to the Wednesday market. I found some resonably priced asparagus (which I still resented having to pay for) and some un-labelled mystery-cheese at a really good price. So I bought them both, and here is how I combined them:


Ham Asparagus Rolls
(recipe from memory, with alterations to suit my new English environment)

as much fresh asparagus as you can handle
250g smoked, rindless back bacon
Coleman's mustard
2 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp butter
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup cheese, grated
spring onions

Arrange the bacon on a grill pan, and spread each slice with a scant amount of mustard. Grill (broil) until the bacon starts to brown at the edges. Remove them from the oven, and cool so you can handle them. Wrap each bacon slice around 4-5 stalks of asparagus. Arrange in a casserole dish, and repeat until all the asparagus is used. It's ok to pack it in tight, but try to keep it to a single layer.

For the cheese sauce, make a roux of the flour and butter. Add the milk slowly, whisking to incorporate. Simmer until thickened to a sauce-like consistency. Stir in the cheese. Pour this over the ham and asparagus rolls, and top with chopped spring onion.

Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes, til the top is browned and the asparagus is tender-crisp. Serve hot over toast.