This is one of those ridiculously easy posts that is more like a tutorial than a recipe…all you need to remember is the technique and the ingredients are a no brainer. And isn’t it just so loverly that such an amazingly quick and easy dish can taste so wonderfully scrumptious?!! Center-cut bacon is the leanest and works best in this recipe, but I typically buy whatever is on sale; if I’m at Trader Joe’s though, I’m all for the naturally cured, nitrite-free bacon—have you tried it???
Oh, and please don’t be afraid of this recipe! Bacon doesn’t make you fat. Eating bacon with five, fluffy, syrup-drenched pancakes for breakfast every day makes you fat. Unless you’re Michael Phelps.
Wash asparagus and cut off tough ends.
Divide asparagus into six to eight groups. (Doesn’t have to be perfect)
Drizzle with olive oil then sprinkle lightly with kosher salt
Sprinkle with fresh ground pepper (i prefer multicolored peppercorns because it’s just so pretty)
Tightly wrap a single piece of bacon (being careful not to tear it) around each group of asparagus. Secure the end underneath a single piece of asparagus. It will tighten up as it cooks so you don’t need to use a toothpick.
Prepare either a broiling pan or a baking sheet with a light coat of cooking spray.
Place asparagus on pan so that it isn’t touching each other.
Ingredients
- 1 or 2 bunches asparagus (around 1 to 2 lbs.)
- olive oil
- kosher salt
- fresh ground pepper
- 6 to 8 slices bacon, preferably center cut for leanness
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 deg F
- Wash and trim asparagus.
- Divide roughly into six to eight groups of about eight asparagus in each group. (I used super skinny asparagus because that's what the store had)
- Lightly drizzle with olive oil and then kosher salt.
- Generously sprinkle with fresh ground pepper.
- Beginning right below asparagus heads, wrap a single piece of bacon, slightly overlapping and then secure end by tucking under one end of asparagus.
- Place on a broiler pan, or you can also place a cooling rack on top of a baking sheet to keep the grease separate. And place the asparagus on top of the cooling rack.
- Place in oven for 13 to 15 minutes or until bacon is browned and asparagus is tender.
- Serve immediately.
Recipe source: Rachel Ray
