Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus with Lemon Aioli
Tender asparagus spears wrapped in crispy Prosciutto di Parma, served alongside bright lemon aioli — a pairing of two of Italy's oldest ingredients, both of which found their way onto Roman tables before the Common Era.
- 24 spearsasparagus(thick spears, trimmed)
- 12 slicesprosciutto(halved lengthwise)
- 2 tbspolive oil
- 0.5 cupmayonnaise
- 1 tbspfresh lemon juice
- 1 tsplemon zest
- 1 small clovegarlic(minced)
- 0.25 tspkosher salt
- 0.125 tspblack pepper
Asparagus can be wrapped up to 4 hours ahead; refrigerate. Roast just before serving. Aioli keeps 5 days refrigerated.
- 1Preheat oven to 400°F and line baking sheet with parchment
- 2Make lemon aioli: whisk mayonnaise, lemon juice, zest, garlic, salt, and pepper
- 3Refrigerate until serving
- 4Toss asparagus lightly with olive oil
- 5Wrap each spear with half slice of prosciutto in spiral pattern
- 6Arrange on baking sheet seam-side down
- 7Roast 12-15 minutes until asparagus is tender and prosciutto is crispy
- 8Arrange on platter with aioli for dipping
- 9Serve warm
Choose thick asparagus spears that won't overcook while prosciutto crisps. Wrap tightly so prosciutto adheres. The aioli can be made with roasted garlic for a mellower flavor. Serve immediately while prosciutto is still crispy.
Asparagus and prosciutto share an unlikely distinction: both have documented histories stretching back more than two thousand years, and both have been associated with luxury, ceremony, and pleasure across nearly every civilisation that encountered them. Asparagus appears in Egyptian friezes dating to approximately 3000 BCE, and it was gathered and eaten wild by the ancient Greeks, who noted its aphrodisiac properties — the physician Hippocrates (c.460–370 BCE) recommended a tea made from dried asparagus as a diuretic. The oldest written description of asparagus cultivation comes from the Roman polymath Cato the Elder, whose De Agri Cultura dates to roughly 234–149 BCE. The Romans took asparagus seriously: the recipe collection attributed to Apicius included preparations for it, and the vegetable was cultivated extensively near Ravenna. After the fall of the Roman Empire it largely disappeared from European tables, resurfacing in Italy during the Renaissance before spreading to the royal courts of France, where Louis XIV loved it enough to commission his head gardener, La Quintinie, to develop methods for growing it under glass at Versailles year-round. Prosciutto di Parma has an equally ancient pedigree. The official Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma confirms that the earliest evidence of salt-cured pork in the Parma area dates to the Etruscan period (9th to 1st century BCE), and that Cato the "Censor" first mentioned the air-cured ham of the Parma region in approximately 100 BCE. The word "prosciutto" itself derives from the Latin perexsuctum, meaning "thoroughly dried." The Consorzio received EU Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status in 1996, restricting production to the province of Parma, where the Apennine mountain breezes produce the ham's distinctive sweetness.