Well, now I can say I’ve peeled stalks of asparagus – never done that before. In fact I didn’t know anybody did that, but there it is, direction #1:
1. Trim the asparagus spears, peel the stalks, and cook the asparagus as described on page 466.
One of the features of a lot of these recipes is Marcella’s detailed directions on how to perform specific tasks – so it’s not uncommon to be flipping forward or back in the cookbook to learn a technique that she initially covered with another recipe or as part of a general introduction to a chapter.
The ingredients, including some Marsala wine partly hidden behind the pepper grinder. I like quaffing most wine, but Marsala is an exception. I use it only for cooking.

This recipe took longer than I first assumed….. Oh, you mean I have to cook the asparagus first; then sauté the scaloppine before combining the two in a parchment-lined dish, covering with slices of Fontina cheese and sauce from the sauté pan; then baking the dish in the oven. Guess I didn’t read the directions very carefully the first time.
Almost ready to go into the oven.

The only difficult part of the directions to follow relates to the parchment paper. Marcella provides an option to use aluminum foil, but since I had the parchment paper, I went with that. However, the directions called for two sheets of paper crimped to provide a tight seal for the scaloppine before baking. I had difficulty getting a tight seal. Aluminum foil would likely be much easier to create the seal and it’s what I will use next time.
The final result:

What I liked about this recipe:
Almost everything. Great result.
What I didn’t I like about this recipe:
Preparation time a bit long & a bit picky (peeling asparagus stalks?) for me, but no real issues.
Would I make it again?
Yes – well, actually I already have. We served it to some friends a couple of weeks after I first prepared it. It was a big hit.
BTW the aluminum foil was much easier to work with than the parchment paper.
Want a recipe that’s sure to impress? Try this one.