Perfectly roasted asparagus drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salty Parmesan! This simple and addictive side dish uses only a handful of ingredients but packs so much flavour!
One of my favourite springtime vegetables is asparagus. I look forward to asparagus season and eagerly bring home a bundle each time I visit the grocery store!
This side dish is one of our favourites. It takes 15 minutes to make and pairs well with just about anything! Heck, I could make a meal out of them!
Roasting asparagus is easy to do with only a drizzle of olive oil and some salt and pepper. Asparagus really doesn’t need much more to shine. But if you add, Parmesan?
So. Much. Awesomeness!
Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan cheese pairs well with salmon, chicken, shrimp, pretty well anything you can think of. We have made them for brunch as well.
How to buy, store and prepare asparagus
If you are new to cooking with asparagus, you’ll find they are pretty easy to work with but there are a few things to look for when buying.
Asparagus spears come in various sizes ranging from thinner spears to much thicker ones. I find regardless of their size, they are all equally delicious.
While size isn’t an indicator of a good bunch of asparagus, colour and firmness is. You want to look for asparagus with a nice, bright green colour and some white on the ends. You also want to ensure your asparagus is firm. If it looks limp or the tips of the asparagus look soft and mushy, that’s not good.
Once you bring them home, if you aren’t going to prepare them right away, store them upright in a bowl filled with about an inch of water. You want the ends of the asparagus to be submerged in the water in order for it to keep its freshness.
Once ready to cook, you will need to trim the ends. The bottoms of the asparagus are woody and tough to eat so you will need to cut those off. If you hold an asparagus spear in your hand and bend it, the tough ends will naturally break off at that point. I do this with one spear and then just cut the rest with a knife at the same point.
That’s pretty much it!
Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan in just 15 minutes!
Making this dish takes only 15 minutes!
To start, I preheat the oven to 400F. While its preheating, I trim my asparagus and add it to a baking dish. I drizzle olive oil over it and then season it with salt and pepper. Toss it all together and into the oven it goes!
The asparagus roasts for 8 minutes. Meanwhile I grate my parmesan (or you can use pre-grated here). I sprinkle the parmesan on top of it and place it back in the oven for just 2 more minutes. That’s it! Seriously!
I like to squeeze a little lemon juice on top but that’s entirely optional.
Bon appetit!
You may also like:
Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus
Sauteed Swiss Chard
Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan
Ingredients
- 1 bunch asparagus ends trimmed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1/3 cup Parmesan grated
- squeeze of lemon, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Place trimmed asparagus in a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Toss to coat them evenly. Season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 8 minutes.
- Sprinkle asparagus with Parmesan and return to oven for 2 minutes. Serve as is or with a squeeze of lemon.
