Pancetta-wrapped Asparagus

Image of home-cured and smoked pancetta

We’ve been on a roll since we did a smoking and curing course with Marsh Pig Salami a few months ago. We’ve been making batches of our own bacon and pancetta and it’s so good I don’t think we’ll ever go back to shop-bought.

Our first pancetta has just finished curing and I couldn’t think of a better way to use it than to wrap it round our home-grown asparagus. Any wafer-thin pancetta works, though I think smoked is nicest, but you can just as easily use thinly sliced streaky bacon.

PS: since I first posted this I’ve re-made it with the addition of a few drops of truffled rapeseed oil from Suffolk producer Scarlett and Mustard and it adds a whole new dimension. I’ve amended the recipe accordingly.

Pancetta-wrapped Asparagus

  • Servings: 2 as a generous starter
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Image of pancetta-wrapped asparagus, served

Ingredients:

18 spears of asparagus

6 thin slices of smoked pancetta or streaky bacon

Olive oil

Freshly-ground black pepper

Truffled rapeseed oil (optional)

Image of thinly-sliced smoked pancetta

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6.

Wash and trim the asparagus by snapping off the woody ends and pat dry on kitchen roll.

Drizzle with a little olive oil then bundle up three spears and wind a strip of pancetta or bacon up around the stems. Keep going until you have six packages.

Image of pancetta-wrapped asparagus before cooking

Grind over a little black pepper and roast for around 15-20 minutes or until the thick part of the stems can be easily pierced with the tip of a knife and the pancetta is crisping up.

You can add a little shaved parmesan to serve but really it’s just gilding the lily. However, a few drops of truffled rapeseed oil added just before serving is delicious.

4 thoughts on “Pancetta-wrapped Asparagus

  1. Oh! Simple ways are the best, aren’t they? And if you’ve managed to produce every ingredient yourself (perhaps not the olive oil and pepper?), well….. what pleasure.

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