Food & Recipes, Home Entertaining

Get ready for a spring time treat—Roasted Asparagus

It’s a quick home recipe for roasted asparagus that’s perfect for any meal.

I love the taste of fresh asparagus. And, the best way I know how to prepare them is roasting them with this very simple recipe.

The first tip: read my earlier post and video on selecting, prepping and storing asparagus. Yes, there’s a little trick to it, but only very little. The big reveal is that we peel the skin of the lower stalk of the asparagus spears. This way you get to enjoy more of the asparagus instead of snapping the ends off and tossing them away. Less waste, and more roasted veggie to enjoy.

Roasted vegetables are the simplest and tastiest way to make a perfect side dish for any meal. The best vegetables to roast are the ones that are in season and for me, when it’s Spring, that means asparagus.

Second tip for prepping any roasted veggie: keep your aromatics and spices simple. Do this, and you’ll see the flavor of the vegetable become the star of the dish.

In the previous blog post I mentioned the thickness of asparagus stalks. For some dishes, the thinner asparagus is preferred (like stir-fry and salads). But when we’re roasting, we want the larger or thicker spears.  They hold up better to roasting and we get more actual vegetable to enjoy.

Now for the recipe:

  • Prep the asparagus per my earlier post and video.
  • Preheat your oven to 450°F.
  • Lay your asparagus out in a single layer in a shallow baking dish.
  • Drizzle extra virgin olive oil over your asparagus. I love the oil from Corzano e Paterno that I brought home from my last trip to Italy. Turn them over to coat on all sides. A kitchen secret—use the best set of cooking tools you have in your kitchen: your hands!
  • Sprinkle coarse sea salt and fresh ground black pepper over the asparagus. You can use flavored sea salt if you want the added flavor profile in your finished dish. In my video, I used smoked sea salt from Jacobsen Salt and fresh ground pepper from Cole and Mason.
  • Place the baking dish uncovered into the oven and let it cook. Start checking at about 12 minutes, occasionally turning until lightly browned and just tender. Actual cooking time depends on the thickness of the stalks.
  • Finish roasting and transfer to a serving platter. Lightly drizzle good aged balsamic vinegar (I use Acetaia Villa Bianca from another trip to Italy) over the hot asparagus and top with some shaved Parmesan Reggiano cheese to finish.

Watch my latest video to watch me make this dish. And here’s to enjoying the fruits of spring!

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