Cheesy Asparagus Sesame Rolls Food

ASPARAGUS ROLL-UPS

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, bring 1/2 in. of water to a boil. Add asparagus; cover and boil for 3 minutes. Drain and immediately place asparagus in ice water. Drain and pat dry. Set aside., Flatten bread with a rolling pin. Combine the cream cheese, bacon and chives; spread 1 tablespoonful on each slice of bread. Top with an asparagus spear. Roll up tightly; place seam side down on a greased baking sheet. Brush with butter and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. , Cut roll-ups in half. Bake at 400° for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.

ASPARAGUS ROLLS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400*.
• Break off tough ends of the asparagus leaving just the tender tips. Steam for several minutes until cooked crisp tender.
• Open crescent roll dough and separate at the seams. Sprinkle some cheese, bacon bits and green onion on each roll followed by an asparagus spear.
• Roll up and bake in the oven for 10 - 12 minutes or until rolls are browned.

ASPARAGUS AND CHEESE TART

Steps:

• Fill a large bowl with ice water. Bring about 1 inch of water to a boil in a large skillet. Add the asparagus; cook until bright green and crisp-tender, 2 to 5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the asparagus. Drain and transfer to the ice water to stop the cooking; drain and pat dry. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Roll out the puff pastry into a 10-by-16-inch rectangle on a floured surface. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet and prick all over with a fork. Bake until light golden brown, about 12 minutes. Let cool slightly on the baking sheet.
• Meanwhile, mix the fontina, comte, shallot, egg yolks, milk, nutmeg and a pinch each of salt and pepper in a bowl until combined. Spread the cheese mixture evenly over the puff pastry, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides. Toss the asparagus with the olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste. Arrange the asparagus on the tart and bake until the cheese mixture is slightly puffy, 15 to 20 minutes. Sprinkle with the lemon zest. Serve warm or at room temperature.

CHEESY BAKED ASPARAGUS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. Arrange asparagus in a greased 13x9-in. baking dish; add cream, salt and pepper. Top with mozzarella, cashews and Parmesan cheese. Bake until asparagus is tender and cheese is melted and golden brown, 25-30 minutes. Transfer dish to wire cooling rack; let stand 5 minutes before serving.

PHYLLO WRAPPED CHEESY ASPARAGUS

Steps:

• Thin cream cheese with the milk.
• Carefully unroll phyllo dough and cut 3 strips width-wise. Cover with a damp towel to keep moist while you are working. Layer 3-4 strips of phyllo on your work surface, brushing melted butter and sprinkling some bread crumbs between each layer, as well as on the top. On the top strip additionally, spread some of the cream cheese mixture and sprinkle some of the parmigiano cheese. Take 3 asparagus spears, lay on top of the phyllo strips and wrap around middle/bottom part of asparagus. It should look very pretty with some of the green sticking out on both ends. Brush additional butter on top and sprinkle more parmigiano cheese and bread crumbs.
• Repeat this process until you are out of asparagus.
• Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until the phyllo is golden brown. Serve warm.

CHICKEN AND ASPARAGUS ROLLS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 220°C.
• Lay out the sheets of puff pastry. They will defrost while you prepare the chicken.
• Cut the chicken breast into long strips. You will need half a large chicken breast or half a medium chicken breast plus the tenderloin from the other half.
• Sprinkle the stock powder over the chicken. I use an organic vegetable stock but use whatever you have. I have tried soy sauce but it makes the chicken too wet. Dry ingredients are better and light flavours don't overpower the asparagus. Add a grind or two of black pepper and a good pinch of salt. Make sure all the chicken is coated with some seasoning.
• Drain the asparagus well. Tinned/canned asparagus works really well in this recipe.
• The pastry should be defrosted enough to be able to cut the sheets in half. Cut each sheet in half to give you 10 strips.
• Put asparagus spears down the middle of each strip. Then lay a strip of chicken beside the asparagus.
• Beat an egg lightly and then brush some eggwash along the cut in the middle of the sheet of pastry.
• With a sheet in front of you with the cut going left to right (not up and down), take the edge near you and fold it over the chicken and asparagus. Use the folded edge to shove the filling nearer to you until it is tucked around the filling quite tightly.
• Now roll up the pastry to the eggwash and make sure the cut edge stays on the bottom of the roll.
• Brush the top with egg and sprinkle plenty of sesame seeds on top.
• Cut into 6 pieces.
• Repeat for the other 9 strips to give you 60 little bites.
• Place on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the pastry is cooked through. The chicken will cook in this time and will still be moist and tasty.
• Take the rolls off the baking tray and cool slightly on a wire rack. Then serve warm or leave on the rack and serve cold. They are equally good warm or cold. They can be reheated but, like all pastry dishes, are better freshly baked.
• The rolls in the photograph I have posted were made with a low-fat puff pastry. As expected, they haven't puffed up as much as usual pastry but still tasted good. Let's face it, pastry is never going to be a low-fat food so you may as well enjoy it but just not eat it all the time. I'll be going back to the usual next time. 14/12/07 - Edited to add an updated photo of rolls made with regular puff pastry. Also, I increased the amount of chicken.
• Note: put the sesame seeds in a dish and discard any that you don't use. They could be contaminated by the chicken so you don't want to put them back in the bag.

BLUE CHEESE ASPARAGUS ROLLUPS

Steps:

• Flatten each slice of bread with a rolling pin so it is less than 1/4" thick.
• Mix Blue cheese, worcestershire sauce, beaten egg, cream cheese and seasonings.
• Spread the mix on each slice of bread.
• put an asparagus spear at the edge of each slice and roll up like a Jelly roll.
• Coat the outside of each roll with butter.
• Cut each roll into 3 pieces.
• Place, seam side down, on a cookie sheet and bake for about 20 minutes, 375°F.
• Turn over to the other side after about 10 minutes.
• The rolls should be nice and golden.

GRILLED SESAME ASPARAGUS

Steps:

• Soak 2-3 bamboo skewers in water for 30 minutes or more.
• Wash asparagus and snap the ends off. *Note: Snapping the ends off with your fingers rather than cutting will prevent the asparagus from being stringy.
• Thread the asparagus spears onto the bamboo skewers.
• Spoon or brush the toasted sesame oil onto the asparagus.
• Spoon or brush the soy sauce onto the asparagus.
• Sprinkle with pepper.
• Place on BBQ grill and cook for 3-4 minutes until tender-crisp.
• Sesame seeds can be added after cooking or before, whichever you like better.
• Any extra soy sauce-oil mixture can either be used for dipping or basting during cooking.