TIO Tuesday - Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

Recently I had the opportunity to try asparagus for the first time. I know, yet another rather common food that I haven't eaten. I always thought it was just one of those things I wouldn't like. I'm not sure there's a valid reason for it, other than I didn't eat it growing up. Well, long story short, Tara did an awesome job with the asparagus and I found that I do like it. Surprise, surprise!
I purchased a bunch of it this week, fully intending to make something fabulous with it. This wasn't what I originally had planned, but I will say it was pretty fabulous. I mean, you can't go wrong with bacon - right?! A little research and a video later, I taught myself how to prepare the asparagus. It's not rocket science, but being that I had never made it before, I wanted to do it right. The video was very helpful and the recipe was a winner. I did alter it a little to combine the two techniques.
So, starting with the asparagus, I rinsed the stalks and chopped off a little of the ends. As it mentions in the video, I peeled the ends slightly to get rid of the woodiness (is that a word?)
I drizzled  liberally doused them with olive oil, and sprinkled on a little grey sea salt.

After reading most of the reviews for the recipe, I decided to pre-cook the bacon a little so the finished product would be crispy. I put it in strips at 375 degrees for ten minutes then wrapped the bacon around the asparagus. The recipe calls for using half a strip of bacon, I would recommend using the full strip. By the time I had pre-cooked the bacon and then wrapped the asparagus, there wasn't much bacon left to go around the stalk, and that my friends should NEVER happen! I cooked them an additional twenty minutes as noted in the recipe.

Voila!

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

Ingredients

• 1 lb fresh asparagus
• 8 -10 slices bacon

Directions

1. Wash and trim asparagus spears.
2. Cut bacon strips in half crosswise.
3. Wrap one-half strip bacon around each asparagus spear, leaving tip and end exposed.
4. Lay on a cookie sheet with sides.
5. Bake in a preheated 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until bacon is cooked.
6. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy!
~ Misty