Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

I made this recipe yesterday for a Thanksgiving appetizer and these were SO GOOD! All the grown-ups loved them, the kids not so much.

Asparagus, trimmed

Proscuitto

Italian herbed cheese spread (near cream cheeses)

Blanch the asparagus by boiling it for about four minutes. As soon as you drain the asparagus, dip it in an ice water bath to cool it. Preheat the oven to 450. While the oven is heating remove the proscuitto from the packaging and separate the slices. I cut each slice in half to make each rectangle into two squares (this helped the proscuitto go further and made the proportions better). Spread each proscuitto slice with the cheese spread and wrap individual asparagus stalks in the proscuitto. Arrange on a baking sheet and bake 15 minutes.

You can skip the blanching step if you want, but I read that it helped the asparagus to not dry out while roasting. The asparagus really was perfect, moist and easy to bite into, while the proscuitto gets a little crispy on the outside. YUM!

This can also be a side dish, just gather several stalks of asparagus into each proscuitto slice.

Tortellini Soup

I know I'm lazy at posting here, but that's because I'm lazy at typing.  A friend asked me for this recipe and so I thought I'd copy it here too....

Tortellini Soup

easy, 30 minutes prep and cook combined

heat 2 T olive oil

add 6 cloves chopped garlic (I put about 3 T of pre-chopped, refrigerated garlic)

add 48 oz chicken broth and some red pepper flakes

when boiling add tortellini (packaged in pasta aisle... I prefer the spinach and cheese for this recipe)

cook for half the tortellini cook time

add 14-28 oz crushed tomatoes (the recipe calls for 14, I always do about 26)

cook for remainder of tortellini cook time

add some fresh spinach leaves, cook for a minute or so