Dijon, Ham and Asparagus Roll Ups

I bring you another easy to put together dish that is a great appetizer or brunch food.

You may be expecting these to just be asparagus and ham rolled up together with some mustard, but you'd be wrong.  These are asparagus and ham roll up in crescent rolls with mustard on them.

Why do Pillsbury Crescent Rolls taste so good?  I tried to make my own once and they just aren't the same.  Is it the preservatives?  Do they use a ton of butter?  Maybe it's that little dough boy who, let's be honest, is a little bit creepy.  He has a human face, giggles like a kid but yet we find it appropriate to want to bake and eat him.  Whatever it is, I don't buy them unless they are for a specific purpose because if they are in front of me I'll eat the whole popping can.  Just like Grands Biscuits and those canned Cinnamon Rolls with the little can of icing.  I can't resist those either.

Making this recipe is super easy and is more about assembly than it is about cooking.

Step 1: Pop open the can of crescent rolls and lay them out.   I love opening those things.  I wish more stuff was packaged like this.  It's almost a little bit scary because you don't know exactly when it's going to pop.  Will it pop when you take the outside paper off?  Do you need to press lightly or will you have to press really hard.  You never know and then suddenly it's open and it always surprises me just a little bit.  It's like opening champagne.

Step 2: Spread each crescent roll with Dijon mustard.  I've made these a couple of times and I say the more mustard the better.  If you only spread a thin layer on there you won't get any of the flavor in the finished dish.  Mustard it up.

Step 3: Wrap a par-cooked asparagus spear in ham.  I like to use 2 slices of very thinly sliced ham so you get the ham flavor but you're not trying to chew through a thick slice of ham.  No one wants to be trying to daintily eating something at a party only to have to gnaw on some big old ham slice.

Step 4:  Put the hammy asparagus on the mustardy crescent roll dough and roll that puppy up.

Step 5: Bake.

Step 6: Try to eat just one.

I really love these.  You get a great combination of the bitter asparagus, spicy mustard, sweet ham and warm and buttery crescent roll.  It's kind of like serving a sandwich but so much better.  They are great brunch of appetizer food because people think they're eating vegetables (which they are) but they're really eating hammy, doughy deliciousness which is what they really want anyway.  Trust me.

Dijon, Ham and Asparagus Roll Ups

Adapted from The Daily Meal
Makes 16 Roll Ups

Ingredients 
16 stalks Asparagus
2 packages Crescent Rolls 
Dijon Mustard
16 slices Ham (or 32 if they're really thinly sliced)


Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Break off the woody parts of the asparagus stem so that only about the top 3-3 ½ inches of the stalk remain. Place the asparagus in a microwavable bowl with just enough water to cover. Then, place a towel over the top of the bowl. Microwave for 2 minutes or until tender.

Spread out the crescent roll dough evenly on a large baking sheet. Coat the dough with a generous layer of Dijon mustard. Wrap 1 asparagus stalk in 1-2 slices of ham. Place the wrapped asparagus at the wide end of the crescent dough and roll up in the dough. Repeat for each crescent roll.

Bake until golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool slightly, and serve warm.

Enjoy!
Julie