Roasted Asparagus – Just a very quick, very tasty way to cook asparagus – roasted with a little garlic in a hot oven, then finished with a drizzle of lemon juice and sprinkle of parmesan. YUM!
Welcome to Day 11 of the inaugural Holiday Salad Marathon, where I’m sharing 30 salads in a row through to Christmas Eve – just for something different to the usual sugar-loaded baking countdowns!!
Today, something quick and easy for when asparagus is abundant and cheap:
Roasted Asparagus
Roasting is an excellent way to make any cook-able vegetable tastier with very little effort. All you need is a drizzle of oil, salt and pepper, then enough time in the oven so the vegetable cooks through to your taste (tender-crisp is the case for me, most of the time), and gets a bit of colour on it.
With asparagus, we can really only get a little colour on the pointy end, being that they cook quickly (7 minutes, for medium size ones pictured), but even a bit of colour is still tastier than steaming!
What you need for roasted asparagus
Here’s what I use to roast asparagus. I know I only said salt and pepper, but garlic does make everything tastier!
How to make roasted asparagus
Now herein lies the reason why I make this a LOT as a quick side dish – how effortless this is to make:
1 & 2. Snap the woody ends off – just grab a few asparagus and snap off the bottom 3 – 5cm / 1 – 2″ which is the woody fibrous end that is not nice to eat. No need to pull out a knife here, it will naturally break at the point where the woody part finishes (as long as the asparagus is fresh and crisp, not old and soggy);
3. Drizzle with olive oil, toss with salt, pepper and garlic. I do this right on the tray. Yes, little bits of garlic won’t properly stick to the asparagus and no, that’s not a problem. You will still get flavour on the asparagus via the residual oil & asparagus juices on the tray;
4. Spread and bake – just 7 minutes in a hot 220°C/430°F oven! (Unless you’ve got thicker ones, then it will be closer to 10 to 12 minutes)
5. Optional lemon – I like to squeeze over lemon juice while hot because it absorbs some of the flavour, then just give it a quick toss;
6. Pile onto serving plate and if using the optional parmesan, just grate it straight over. Done!
Serve as a quick side with anything, from roasts to fish, prawns to chicken. Because it cooks so quickly, it’s a good vegetable side dish for roasts because the asparagus can be roasted while, say, a roast chicken is resting before carving it up.
Add it to the side of a breakfast fry up, or smear a piece of toast with ricotta then pile on the asparagus.
And another way to serve this is with poached egg and Hollandaise Sauce. Albeit you often see this combination with plain steamed asparagus, imagine it with ROASTED garlic asparagus! Knock-your-socks-off amazing!
Serve it just like that as lovely starter, or with a slice of toasted crusty bread for brunch. – Nagi x
What is the Holiday Salad Marathon?
This is my inaugural Christmas recipe countdown where I am sharing 30 salad recipes in a row until Christmas Eve – something completely different to people’s usual baking countdowns!
These salads are in addition to my regular 3 new recipes a week. Because aren’t you bored of the usual tomato-cucumber-lettuce garden salad routine??
Click here to see all the Holiday Salad Marathon recipes to date, or sign up for instant updates and you’ll receive a free email alert whenever I publish a new salad! 🙂
Watch how to make it
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Roasted Asparagus
Ingredients
- 500g/1 lb asparagus (3 standard Australian bunches)
- 1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper
- 1 garlic clove , finely minced (knife or garlic press)
Optional finishes:
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp parmesan , freshly grated
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220°C/430°F (200°C fan).
- Snap the woody ends off the asparagus – it will naturally break at the right point.
- Pile onto tray. Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic. Toss, then spread out on tray.
- Roast 7 minutes, or until ends have a bit of colour on them and the asparagus is just cooked through. It will take 10 – 12 minutes for very thick ones. Don’t let them get wrinkly and sad!
- Remove from oven.
- Toss with lemon juice, if using. Pile onto serving platter, grate over optional parmesan. Serve!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
He’s practically camouflaged!
This was delicious and so easy to make
Hi Nagi, We love all your recipes!
Thank you for all your hard work from Healthcare workers of Toronto!!!
Can’t wait for your new book.
Wishing you all the best, lots health and inspiration in new year!
This is a review of the roasted asparagus. OMG I loved it. I’ve been looking for a good way to cook asparagus and have finally found one! I’m so happy!! They’re not wooden/chewy, taste delicious and this recipe brings out their best features. This will be my go to asparagus recipe for sure!! Thanks Nagi, you’re the best!!
Oh so delicious! Perfect side dish for any meal. I really never knew how to cook asparagus to make it taste delicious… But I must say this recipe did the trick! I grow my own and I highly recommend it (I recommend https://gardenerland.com/edible/vegetables/growing-asparagus/ ). It does taste better than the shop bought plants.
So simple and yet so absolutely delicious – I love my asparagus roasted wrapped with Parma ham so I’m thinking a combination of the two recipes could be amazing! Loved the lemon juice with yours – it made such a difference.
Hi Nagi. We cooked this last night with a roast chicken and roast vegetables, and it was seriously deliciously.
I first stumbled on your website about 6 months ago, and every recipe I have tried is delicious. Now I find myself searching your site for recipes all the time. Truly delicious – thank you!!!
Lovely recipe. Takes a lot of skill to make a few ingredients taste so amazing.
Lovely pic of Dozer. Funny the sand doesn’t bother him at all…even all in his mouth and nose lol. You’re so amazing to take him to his happy place even if it’s messy😊
I love everything about this! I can see this way of cooking it working well with other vegetables, too, and will try that out. Broccolini, sweet potato/potato chips, cauliflower florets, etc. etc
Thanks for this, it will be my new staple side dish!
Irini
I discovered high quality lemon infused olive oil in Italy. Drizzle on asparagus and it’s ready to roast – yum! Love the pic of Dozer on you lap in the pool!
Yum!!! Sounds perfect Robin! N x
Yessss, cant wait to have this, asparagus is one of my favourites, I desperately need you to come up with asparagus soup 😉 ps. I need a dozer in my life, I would dress him up for Christmas x
Great idea Rakel – one to add to my list! N x
Asparagus heralds spring for me and I utterly live on the vegetable whilst it is in local season. Make it plain like you . . . even cheese is usually eschewed. Would you believe I steam and grill but have never tried your method ! Some is still available – cannot wait to try ! Having been to Europe on business every spring for decades – my favourite food dream always was the very thick white German spring asparagus with authentic Westphalian ham . . . what an experience . . .
Hi Eha, I am from Germany – well, 40 years ago. You can buy the white German asparagus in glasses in good continental delicatessen shops – drained for a while they are good enough to make the dish you mentioned – use Serrano Ham and “Butter Kaese” (that’s what it’s called) from Aldi and you can have your favourite dish for breakfast any time you like. Although of course eating it in Germany is and always will be the tastiest option!
Danke vielmals Irini – You and I think SO alike in that this would make a far more preferable breakfast than cereal topped with milk 🙂 !! We attended the Hannover-Messe most years and I don’t think much else was eaten in restaurants top-to-bottom !!!
Roasting just brings out a great flavour Eha, it’s my favourite way with veg to be honest! N x
Hi Nagi, thanks so much for the great recipes.
Do you have any recipes using sous vide method ?
Hi Judy, no I don’t sorry – something to add to the list!! N x
I love asparagus – roasted and served with a poached egg and hollandaise is my favourite indulgence.
YUM! I love this idea Alimak! N x