Simple, fast, and oh! so tasty! The trifecta of recipes, if you ask me.
We love our asparagus roasted (unless I plan on adding it to a salad, then I just steam it) – usually with just a drizzle of olive oil and a goodly pinch of sea salt and nice black pepper; so imagine my amazement at coming across this barefoot contessa recipe where she does the roasting in the olive oil, salt, and pepper, and then takes one extra step into asparagus nirvana buy adding freshly shaved parmesan at the end!
OK, mebbe not nirvana, but pretty darned yummy – and practically perfect served along side some ribs and oven-roasted potatoes.
I’ve added some Aleppo pepper and adjusted the cooking temp to match those roasting potatoes, and I think we were all pretty happy with the results – tonight will make the third time we’ve had it this week.
INGREDIENTS
•Asparagus
•Olive Oil
•Sea salt
•Freshly ground black pepper – preferably Tellicherry (try it, you really can taste the difference)
•Aleppo pepper
•Freshly shaved Parmesan cheese
•Fresh lemon slices
Heat your oven to 450º.
Cut off the bottom inch or two of your asparagus, then peel the remaining thicker ends of each stalk – I normally peel one side, then flip the spear and peel on other, leaving them kind of striped.
Arrange the spears in single layer in a foil-lined baking pan, drizzle with a bit of olive oil, then sprinkle with the sea salt and pepper.
Toss to coat, then roast for about 15 minutes, until the asparagus is still nice and green, but is tender.
Add the shaved parmesan and Aleppo pepper, then pop back into the oven for a few more minutes, until the cheese is nicely melted.
Serve with fresh lemon wedges.
So, darned, GOOD.