Ham & Asparagus Rollups with Dijon Dill Cream

It’s my favorite time of year. Asparagus season. I adore asparagus. It’s beautiful. It’s elegant. It’s delicious. It’s versatile. It’s the perfect vegetable.

I suppose I could go buy it at the store just about any time I want it, but I don’t. I wait for spring. I wait to go to my parents’ house where they have this HUGE asparagus bed and I can pick and pick and pick to my heart’s content.

And then once asparagus season is over, I don’t cook with asparagus till next spring. Don’t ask me why. That is just how it is.

Ham & Asparagus Rollups with Dijon Dill Cream

I made 8 rollups. I have seen this type of thing done with store-bought crescent rolls. I suppose you COULD do that, but being the freakazoid make-my-own-bread fiend that I am, I just used my bread machine to make the dough. It’s so simple … why not?

Dijon Dill Cream

• 3 Tablespoons light cream cheese
• 3 Tablespoons nonfat Greek yogurt
• 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
• Several little sprigs of fresh dill, snipped
• 1/2 cup shredded Havarti cheese

Rollups

• Fresh bread or crescent roll dough (I used this bread dough)
• 16 – 48 asparagus spears (just the top 3 – 5 inches of each spear)
• 8 Slices (or chopped) lean ham (I used chopped ham, but I think thin slices wrapped around the asparagus would be prettier)

Directions:

1. Make the bread dough. I used my French bread dough and made it in my bread machine on the dough setting. I made a whole recipe of the dough, then used about 1/3 of the dough for this recipe and made the rest into a small loaf of French bread. If you want to make all of the dough into rollups, just make about 3 times as much Dijon Dill Cream and adjust the amount of asparagus accordingly.
2. Make the Dijon Dill Cream. In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese, yogurt and mustard until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the dill and havarti cheese. Set aside.
3. Place the asparagus spears in a microwaveable dish, add a little water, then cover and microwave for a minute or three until the asparagus is just crisp tender.
4. Roll out the bread dough into a large rectangle. Cut out half as many 4 inch squares as you will want for rollups, then cut each square in half diagonally to make a triangle.
5. Spread each triangle with dijon dill cream, then lay the asparagus and ham on the triangle, with the tips of the asparagus poking past the tip of the triangle. I used 2 sprigs of asparagus per rollup but I wish I had put in more! I think 3 or 4 per rollup would be just perfect.
6. Roll the bread dough around the ham and asparagus, then carefully lift and place on a greased baking sheet.
7. Spray the rollups with cooking spray, cover with a clean towel and let rise in a warm place for about 20 – 30 minutes.
8. Bake at 350 for about 10 – 12 minutes or until they are lightly golden brown. Let sit for just a few minutes before serving and serve while they’re still warm. If you have any leftovers, keep them in a bag in the fridge then reheat for a few seconds in the microwave.

They really don’t need any dipping sauce … they are SO good just like this, but if you like, you can serve them with avocado ranch dressing … or thin out some of the dijon dill cream with a little milk to make it into a dipping sauce.

You could serve this as an appetizer or alongside soup or salad for a lovely lunch or light dinner.

It needs a little more than 2 spears per rollup, don’t you think?

If you want to see what they would look like with slices of ham wrapped around the asparagus, check out this beautiful post from The Fresh Fridge.