Serious Eats
I Like My Asparagus Roasted, How About You?
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