Asparagus Wrapped in Pancetta with a Lemon Garlic Dressing

This recipe submitted courtesy of Diana Griffiths at www.salamandercookshop.com/blog/!

Servings:

Cooking Time:

Ingredients:

• 24 thin asparagus spears with the woody ends removed
• 8 rashers of Pancetta, or rashers of thinly sliced smoked bacon Grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
• 1 clove of garlic crushed
• 1 handful of very finely chopped flat leaf parsley
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Salad leaves for a bed of garnish

Instructions:

• First make the dressing. Mix the rind and juice of the lemon with the garlic, parsley and olive oil, seasoning with salt and freshly ground pepper.
• Take three asparagus spears and wrap them together tightly in one slice of Pancetta, ensuring that the whole asparagus is well covered in the Pancetta, particularly the tip.
• Complete this for the rest of the asparagus.
• Heat a large heavy non-stick frying pan with a tablespoon of olive oil and place the Pancetta wrapped asparagus in the pan to cook. It may be necessary to do this in batches depending on the size of your pan.
• Cook until the Pancetta is really crispy, turning as it cooks.
• On four plates arrange a bed of salad leaves and dress with the lemon and garlic dressing, gently tossing the leaves to coat.
• Slice each of the Pancetta wrapped asparagus in half with a diagonal slice and divide between the plates.

This dish is a really good starter, or could be served as a light lunch with bread. Asparagus is always available from different parts of the world all year long, but if you can make a point of searching out locally grown spears in season you wont be disappointed.