Parmesan Asparagus Breadsticks

It's finally springtime here in New Jersey and asparagus are a great vegetable to use during this beautiful season. These Parmesan Asparagus Breadsticks were a big hit at our Easter dinner as an appetizer plus they were super easy to make. If you are planning on making brunch for Mother's Day be sure to add these to your menu, I promise they won't disappoint. 

Spring is such a nice season especially after having a terrible winter. It makes me so happy to hear the little birds chirping outside our windows. I love watching the flowers bloom a little more everyday making our neighborhood look colorful and alive. Plus taking Owen to the park to go on the swings when the sun is out is so much fun!!

Ingredients:

1 Sheet Seamless Pillsbury Dough

24 Asparagus - Medium thickness
2-3 oz Reduced Fat Cream Cheese - Softened
1 Egg
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese - Grated

Adapted from: www.tasteofhome.com

Start by preheating your oven  to 400 F. Wash and cut the bottoms off of your asparagus. It is important when you are buying your asparagus to find stalks that are medium size in thickness. Really skinny stalks will burn or not be able to hold the dough.

 On a lightly floured surface, roll your dough out until it's about 1/4 inch in thickness trying to keep the rectangular shape as much as possible. When you've reached the desired size spread the cream cheese over the dough, this will be the easiest if the cream cheese has had some time out on the counter to soften. You do not need to leave a border so make sure you have a thin layer over the entire surface.

 Using a pizza cutter slice your dough into thin strips about a 1/2 inch in thickness should be fine, not all my slices were the same but it won't really matter. If you end up with some dough strips that are thicker than others just put them on thicker asparagus'.

Take each dough strip and wrap the asparagus starting from the bottom and swirling it all the way to the top, you can stretch the dough a bit if you need more height. Place the wrapped asparagus with the end of the dough side down on a nonstick baking tray or one that has been sprayed with Pam or has a piece of parchment paper. Make sure they are at least an inch or so apart since the dough will rise a bit you don't want them to stick together.

Using a fork whip the egg in a small bowl. Coat the asparagus breadsticks with the egg wash using a brush, making sure to get some egg over both the dough and the asparagus.

 Using a spoon sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over top of the asparagus breadsticks, this was messy for me and the cheese that wasn't on anything ended up burning so try your best to keep it on the asparagus and not the tray. Bake 10-12 minutes until the asparagus has softened and the dough has browned a bit. Serve immediately if possible or make them ahead of time and reheat them in an oven at 325 for 5 minutes.

Enjoy!!

Linked at: http://www.thecountrycook.net/