Asparagus & Dry Cured Ham Chicken Roll

I love chicken, I love cured ham, I love asparagus and I love cheese, so why not combine all items, warp them up into a roll and enjoy all my favorites in every single bite?! This recipe is by no means new, it has been around for ages but I think most people use bacon instead of cured ham but I find it too fatty! There are various ways to warp all these ingredients into a roll, some prefer to wrap the bacon on the outside but I want my chicken to become a little golden in colour so inside the cured hams go. Anyhow, here is the recipe, sort of:



Recipe

• 3 boneless chicken thighs (I picked skinless as well but you can use with skin for better presentation at the end after the grilling stage)
• 6 - 8 sticks of asparagus (avg 2 per chicken thigh) - get the long and bigger one
• 2 extra sticks of asparagus for other uses
• 3 pieces of dried cured ham (Prosciutto Crudo Stagionato)
  
• Garlic Powder and Pepper
• Finely Shredded Parmesan Cheese (use as much as you like)
• Approx 20g of butter (diced it up in reasonably sized cubes)

Step 1 - Let's start with the asparagus. Wash them, peel them with a peeler and cut them in half. With the remaining / extra sticks of asparagus, press on the peeler when peeling so to come out with a thin but thick enough sheet as shown in the picture.



Step 2 - Now, pound the chicken thighs for a little while to flatten it as much as possible for easy wrapping later and faster cooking. Then rub the chicken thighs with some garlic powder and pepper (add some salt if you want).



Step 3 - Place the cheese and diced butter on top. Then place the dry cured ham on top followed by the sticks of asparagus. Check out the pictures for the detailed steps from right to left.



Step 4 - Now here is the hard part. Rolling them up! There are many ways, you can roll them up and use a stick to hold them in place or you can use my method (the fridge method) which is to roll them up using Saran wrap (aka plastic warp) and put them into the fridge for about 30 mins. I have to say sticking them together would be easier and faster but I have no wooden or bamboo sticks at home unfortunately. Now preheat your oven at 180C (or sooner if you are using the sticks methods)



Step 5 - If you use the fridge method, you will see that shape of the roll seems to be holding even when you unwrap it. So now place the rolls onto the tray and let it bake at 180C for about 25 mins or until tender.



(Optional) - If you use chicken thigh with skin, at about 20 mins in, you can either turn up the oven to 200C or if available, the Grill function of the oven for the remaining time. The skin would turn golden and very pretty like Mochachocolata's Tom Yum Grilled Chicken Drumsticks! ... Look at the butter melting away from the rolls .... ahhh, the more the merrier! :)



Step 6 - Remember the sheets of asparagus? They are mainly for show, so you can wrap them around the rolls or skip it if you like. Sprinkle some parsley flakes and get some good old cranberry sauce to go with it.



It took WAY longer than I expected but I had fun! The chicken turned out to be a bit too dry perhaps overcooked it. I have a feeling that if the chicken skins were there, they would shield some of the heat and protect the moisture within the meat. Ah well, it was an enjoyable learning process ...