Name: Asparagus with Cream Sauce
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: Makes 4 servings
Ingredients: 1 pound asparagus, trimmed; 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened; 4 (1/2-inch-thick) slices good-quality white bread such as a pullman loaf, crusts discarded; 1 cup heavy cream; 1/4 cup finely chopped cooked sliced Virginia country ham; 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped garlic

Here, a velvety sauce studded with salty nuggets of country ham strengthens, rather than hides, the meaty savor of asparagus. But what we particularly love about this dish is the toast, made from a sturdy white sandwich loaf, one from a bakery (not from the packaged-bread aisle at the supermarket), the kind of bread that doesn't disintegrate under an extravagant topping but instead turns succulent.

Cooks' note:

Virginia country ham is available at some specialty foods shops and virginatraditions.com.

Recipe notes

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