Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan

This Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan is an easy spring side dish. The recipe can be doubled for a bigger crowd. Bonus: roasting asparagus and tossing it with cheese makes it a much better partner for wine!

Happy Easter! Are you still trying to come up with another side dish or two for your Easter meal? We’ve got a good one for you here!

I thought about sharing a salad recipe, as that is often what I am tasked to bring to our big Easter family gathering. But I’ve already shared several of my go-to salad recipes for past Sunday Suppers, like my Arugula Salad with Maple Vinaigrette.

Then my thoughts ran to asparagus, a veggie that I rarely make out of season. Fresh asparagus is a harbinger of spring for me. Granted, the asparagus in the stores here in New England is still coming from warmer climates. But grabbing it reminds me that warmer days can’t be too far away now. Right?

How to Make Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan Cheese

So how do you get some tasty Parmesan crusted asparagus on your plate along with all your other Easter fixings? Don’t sweat, making our Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan Cheese is easy.

First point here is that you can easily scale up this recipe for a bigger crowd. But if you double or even triple it, I would use a second baking dish because you want the asparagus spread on a single layer of the baking dish.

Also, I recommend going for some good quality, authentic Parmesan cheese imported from Italy for this roasted asparagus recipe. Go head and get a block of Parmesan, and shred what you need for this dish, and save the rest for some pasta!

The other tip, if you don’t prep asparagus much, is how to know where to chop and discard the woody asparagus stem. To determine where to chop the asparagus to discard the woody stem, hold a stock of asparagus at each end, and snap it in two.

The portion opposite from the tip is the woody part you don’t want to cook. It can be reserved for making vegetable broth. Do this with a couple of spears and use the good part from that process to measure where to cut the rest of the asparagus.

Once you have the asparagus ready, you are simply tossing it with the remaining ingredients and roasting in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Be sure to check it at 15 minutes to avoid overcooking.

Wine for Roasted Asparagus

Asparagus is a notoriously tricky dish for wine pairings. I discuss the reasons for that in more detail in this article Red Wine with Asparagus and Mushrooms. As suggested by that title, mushrooms can be a tasty partner for roasted asparagus, too!

Roasting asparagus and tossing it with Parmesan cheese makes it much more approachable to pair with wine. Yes, you can even go with a red wine! Pinot Noir is often an Easter favorite, and would definitely pair up nicely with this roasted asparagus recipe.

Talking about red wine and asparagus reminds me how I often see asparagus offered as a side dish for steak at restaurants. Please people, roast or grill that asparagus before you serve with a big steak friendly red wine!

But when I made this roasted asparagus with Parmesan cheese to share with you today, I was actually serving it alongside this Crock Pot Honey Mustard Chicken recipe. So I opened a Vouvray, which is a white wine from the Loire Valley made from Chenin Blanc grapes. This wine was excellent with the chicken as well as the asparagus. In fact, I think I’m going to get another bottle for our Easter meal!

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Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan #SundaySupper

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Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan is an easy spring side dish. Bonus: roasting asparagus and tossing it with cheese makes it a much better partner for wine!

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 25 mins
• Yield: 4 servings 1x
• Category: side dish
• Method: roasting
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

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• 1 bunch asparagus, woody portion of stock removed, remaining portion cut in half
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ tsp garlic powder
• Salt and pepper to taste
• ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400. In a baking dish, toss the asparagus with the olive oil.
2. Sprinkle the garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste and half of the Parmesan cheese over the asparagus.
3. Place the baking dish in the oven. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes until the asparagus is tender and beginning to brown. Check after 15 minutes to avoid over cooking. Cooking time will vary based on the thickness of the asparagus, at least 20 minutes is likely needed unless the asparagus is quite thin.
4. Scoop the asparagus into a serving bowl, and toss with the remaining Parmesan. Serve and enjoy!

Notes

• This makes a modest amount of asparagus. You can easily double this recipe, but you will want to use two baking dishes in order to keep the asparagus in a single layer.
• To determine where to chop the asparagus to discard the woody stem, hold a stock of asparagus at each end, and snap it in two. The portion opposite from the tip is the woody part you don’t want to cook. It can be reserved for making vegetable broth. Do this with a couple of spears and use the good part from that process to measure where to cut the rest of the asparagus.

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