Asparagus Ham Rolls

I drove to Grinnell Saturday. Roger was in the garden — the garden that is his whole world now, the 84-year-old man who tends six tomato plants and twelve sunflowers with the same care he once gave four hundred acres. He's slower but he's still Roger. He still watches the crop reports. He still calls Jack on Wednesdays.

I made spring risotto with peas this week — the spring version, the one that fills the kitchen with the smell that means this time of year, this stage of life, this specific Tuesday when the stove is warm and the family is fed and the feeding is the point. Kevin ate seconds. The man always eats seconds. The eating is the approval and the approval is the marriage.

Seed starting continues at the Holloway household — the windowsill green, the grow lights purple, the soil mix precise. The annual miracle of February and March: things grow even when everything says they shouldn't. The growing is the argument against everything.

Spring risotto was already on the stove when I started thinking about what else this season asks of us — not elaborate meals, but honest ones, made from what’s coming up out of the ground right now. Asparagus is that vegetable for me: fleeting, unmistakably spring, the kind of thing Roger would pull out of a garden if he grew it. These asparagus ham rolls are simple enough to make on a Tuesday and good enough to make Kevin reach for seconds — and around here, that’s the whole point.

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Total Time: 25 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 lb fresh asparagus, tough ends trimmed
8 thin slices deli ham
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
Salt to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven. Heat your oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease it.
Prep the asparagus. Wash and dry the asparagus spears. Trim the woody ends so each spear is roughly the same length.
Make the rolls. Lay a slice of ham flat. Place 2–3 asparagus spears at one end and roll the ham snugly around them. Repeat with remaining ham and asparagus.
Season and arrange. Place the rolls seam-side down on the prepared baking sheet. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with garlic powder, black pepper, and a pinch of salt.
Roast. Bake for 12–15 minutes, until the asparagus is just tender and the ham begins to crisp at the edges.
Finish and serve. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle with grated Parmesan and lemon zest if using. Serve warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Asparagus Ham Rolls — The Spring Table Roger Would Approve Of