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I Like My Asparagus Roasted, How About You?

Posted by Ed Levine, June 14, 2007 at 3:45 PM

Last week on the New York Times's Diner's Journal blog, Marion Burros opined that she likes her (local) asparagus snappy but not too snappy, somewhere north of al dente.

I like to roast asparagus in a 450-degree oven for ten minutes, drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkled with kosher salt. I then take the asparagus out of the oven and top it with flash-fried capers. I think I first found this recipe in one of Rozanne Gold's 1-2-3 Cookbooks. But now, I've found a recipe online.

Roasted Asparagus

Ingredients
2 pounds medium-thick asparagus spears

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil plus a bit more

Salt

1/2 cup large capers, drained

Freshly ground black pepper

Procedure
1. Preheat oven to 500°F. Remove woody bottoms from asparagus; trim stalks to equal length, if desired. Drizzle 2 tablespoons olive oil on a rimmed baking sheet. Place asparagus on sheet; roll in oil. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Roast for 8 minutes, shaking pan several times during roasting or rolling asparagus with back of spoon. Transfer to warm platter.

2. Meanwhile, heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and a bit more in small skillet. Fry capers over medium heat for 1 minute.

3. Top asparagus with capers; season again lightly with salt, and serve, passing pepper mill at table.

Alternatively: I also sometimes roast asparagus in a very hot oven topped with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. If I'm feeling really frisky, I'll then top the whole affair with a fried egg. I learned that trick from Johanne Killeen and George Germon's Cucina Simpatica book.

Photograph from iStockPhoto.com

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Tags: asparagus, recipes, Serious Recipes, vegetables