Chilled Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus Antipasto

Asparagus appetizer recipe and content provided by Veronica Culver, The Enchanted Cook

I don’t know about you but I’m always up for some good Italian-inspired foods, especially if they’re keto and Bulletproof Diet friendly! This beautiful chilled asparagus appetizer is served cold, which makes it ideal for a make-ahead dish.

No need to crisp up the prosciutto as we often do for a hot version of this. You simply wrap the steamed and cooled asparagus spears with a thin, deliciously salty piece of prosciutto. You can prep everything a day in advance, plate it and cover it, place it in the fridge and just reserve the dressing to drizzle over it right before serving.

This asparagus appetizer is pretty enough on its own, but if you like a colorful plate like I do, you can add an optional garnish of radish matchsticks (radishes cut into tiny sticks) like you see here, which I “quick-pickled” — and I use the term lightly in this case — in some leftover lemon juice.

Pretty enough to serve to guests, easy enough to add to your weekly meal prep. Either way, you can get your Italian fix and stay on your low-carb, clean-eating plan.

Chilled Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus Antipasto

Start to Finish: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 16 large organic asparagus spears (about 1 lb.), hard ends trimmed
• 1 4-ounce package thinly sliced nitrate and nitrite-free prosciutto
• 2 tablespoons good quality extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed organic lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon fresh organic thyme, leaves only
• 1 teaspoon fresh organic oregano, leaves only
• 1/4 teaspoon flaky sea salt plus more for finishing

Instructions:

1. Steam asparagus spears for approximately 8-10 minutes or until crisp tender and still bright green, then immediately immerse in an ice bath for about 30 seconds until the cooking process stops and the spears are cool to the touch. Drain and gently pat dry.
2. While the asparagus is steaming, you can make your dressing and prep your prosciutto.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, thyme, oregano and sea salt. No need to emulsify, a quick whisking will do. Set aside.
4. Next, cut each long slice of prosciutto in half across the middle (not lengthwise) so you have 2 equal sheets. There should be approximately 8 slices, so this will yield approximately 16 small squares.
5. When the asparagus is ready, wrap one piece of prosciutto around each cooled asparagus spear and arrange on a plate.
6. Drizzle the plate with the dressing and add a sprinkle of sea salt.
7. Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for several days. Ideally, it’s best if you can store the dressing separately. However it works either way.

Serves: 16

Nutritional Information (Per serving):

• Calories: 35
• Protein: 2g
• Carbs: 1g
• Fiber: .3g
• Sugar: 0g
• Sugar Alcohol:0g
• Net Carbs: .7g
• Fat: 3g
• Saturated Fat: 1g
• Polyunsaturated: 0g
• Monounsaturated: 1g
• Trans fat: 0g
• Cholesterol: 6g
• Sodium: 167mg
• Potassium: 39mg
• Vitamin A: 2%
• Vitamin C: 6%
• Calcium: 0%
• Iron: 2%