Blue Cheese and Asparagus Rolls

This appetizer brings me back to the 80′s.  My mom has probably made a million of these in her lifetime.  They were a star on her catering menu.  Soft rye bread, a blue cheese cream mixture, asparagus and butter.  The 80′s version of this appetizer included canned asparagus.  I cannot go there, even for nostalgia sake.  Instead, I blanched some asparagus spears and the update is even better than my mother’s original version.  Sorry, Val.  You can make these ahead of time and freeze them and bake them off when you are ready to serve them.  With a glass of white wine, there really is nothing better.

1 bunch asparagus spears
soft rye bread
1 brick cream cheese at room temperature
1/2 cup blue cheese
salt and pepper
room temperature butter

Blanch some asparagus in simmering water.  You do not want them to be mushy, but cooked.

Drop the asparagus in ice cold water to stop the cooking.  Drain and dry off.

In a small bowl, add the room temperature cream cheese.

Mash in the blue cheese and season with salt and pepper.  Go easy on the salt, the blue cheese can be pretty salty.

Use a rolling pin to flatten out the bread.

Cut the crust off of the bread and spread the blue cheese mixture to the edges of the bread.  Add a few spears of asparagus (these were really thin so I used a few, but if they are large I only use one).

Roll the bread into a roll and trim the ends.

Place the rolls on a baking sheet.  If you are going to freeze them, this is the point that you do it at.

Spread butter on the tops of the asparagus rolls.

Toast the rolls in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

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