Asparagus and Ham Mornay

24 asparagus spears, about 2 pounds
3 T. butter or margarine
4 T. flour
1½ c. milk
1 c. grated Gruyere or Swiss cheese
1 egg yolk
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1/8 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
Pinch of cayenne pepper
4 – 2.5 oz. pkg. wafer sliced ham or turkey

Place the asparagus spears on a flat surface. Break off the tough bottoms where they naturally break; it doesn't matter if the spears are not exactly the same length, but they'll be about 7 inches long. Bring enough water to a boil in a skillet to cover the spears. Add the asparagus to the boiling water and cook about 1 – 2 minutes or until crisp tender. Cooking time will depend on your taste and how thick the spears are. Drain.

Meanwhile, heat the butter in a saucepan and add the flour, stirring with a whisk. Add the milk, stirring rapidly with the whisk. Cook, stirring, about 5 minutes until thickened and smooth. Remove from heat. Add ¾ c. of the shredded cheese, stirring rapidly with the whisk. Add egg yolk, pepper, nutmeg and cayenne and beat to blend.

Preheat broiler to high. Select a baking dish large enough to hold the asparagus in a single layer, slightly overlapping. Wrap 1 – 2 slices of ham or turkey compactly around each spear. (If spears are very thin, wrap two – three spears in the slices of ham.) Arrange spears touching in baking dish. Spoon the sauce over all and sprinkle with remaining ¼ c. cheese. Broil 5 inches from heat until bubbling and golden brown on top, 3 – 5 minutes. Serve immediately. Great with crusty rolls. Serves 4.

This recipe came from an article in the paper years ago that featured recipes from The New York Times 60 Minute Gourmet. It was a hit the first time I made it. It actually called for prosciutto instead of the wafer sliced ham. However, when I searched for that in our area I could only find it at a specialty shop for $9.99 per pound. Now I love my family, but that just seemed a little steep to me, so I substituted Carl Buddig wafer sliced ham, Perhaps if I tried it with prosciutto (now available at my local grocery) I would see and taste a big difference, but hey, why mess with a favorite? Elizabeth would ask for this on her birthday and the first time we invited Toby's parents, Jerry and Betty Jo, over for dinner, Elizabeth requested this as the entree. It really is not difficult and makes for a lovely presentation. Timing is is probably the thing that seems the trickiest, but have all your ingredients measured out and ready to go, you'll find it does not even take 60 minutes to prepare.

By the way, I have made half the recipe just for the 2 of us "empty nesters" and just not added the egg yolk. The sauce is not quite as rich, but still yummy, although I guess it's not truly a Mornay Sauce then. However we have also found that leftovers reheat well in the microwave as long as you don't overdue it. I use 80% power for 1 minute in my 1350 watt microwave.
Hope this becomes one of your favorites, too. Enjoy!