Roasted Lemon Garlic Asparagus

FOR THE FULL LIST OF INGREDIENTS AND COMPREHENSIVE INSTRUCTIONS, PLEASE SEE THE PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD AT THE END OF THIS POST. BEFORE YOU SCROLL, THIS POST IS FILLED WITH HELPFUL INFORMATION FOR MAKING THIS RECIPE.

Was anyone else traumatised by eating canned asparagus spears growing up or was that just me?  I wrote off asparagus well and truly and it wasn't until my last 20's that I finally tried fresh asparagus for the first time.  What a revelation that was!

Asparagus can often be lumped into the same category as brussels sprouts.  One of those things we detested eating as children, but something we can grow to love as adults.

If you've been hesitating on whether to give it another go or not, the answer is YES!  But make sure it's ROASTED.

I love using sautéed asparagus in recipes like curries or pasta, but I think it's at its best when roasted.  Of course, you can simply roast asparagus in some olive oil and salt and pepper.

But there's just something magic when vegetables are roasted with parmesan cheese, don't you think?  Add a little lemon and garlic to the equation and you've got yourself a certified flavour explosion.

This Roasted Lemon Garlic Asparagus is a restaurant quality side dish that couldn't be simpler to prepare.  Impress your family and friends and pop this on the table during the holidays.

Serve this roasted asparagus side dish with this classic Roast Chicken with Lemon and Rosemary.

WHY YOU'LL LOVE THIS RECIPE

• It's nutritious
  • Asparagus is packed full of goodness including Vitamins A, C & K and folic acid.  And 5 spears counts as 1 of your 5 serves of veg!
• It's made with everyday ingredients
  • You probably already have them on hand right now, but if you don't you'll be able to easily use them for other recipes also.
• It's fast
  • 15 minutes fast.  Probably shorter.  I doubt it will take you 5 full minutes to prepare.
• It's full of flavour
  • Why have regular old roasted asparagus when you can sprinkle it with lemon, garlic and parmesan and make it a flavoursome side dish?

INGREDIENTS

This is such an incredibly simple side dish using just a few everyday ingredients (most of which you can probably already guess from the title).  Here's what you'll need to put this together...

• Asparagus
• Lemon
• Parmesan
• Olive Oil
• Garlic Cloves
• Salt + Pepper 

HOW TO TRIM ASPARAGUS

You want to remove the tough woody ends of asparagus spears before cooking.  There's two mains ways that you can do this - bend and snap OR chop.  I'm team chop.

There's many a tutorial out there advocating for bending and snapping the ends off asparagus spears, but this is one "hack" I wouldn't recommend.

Whilst it's super satisfying to hear the snap, there's no consistency in where the asparagus breaks off, and you could easily lose perfectly edible asparagus.  And I just hate wasting food!

Instead, simply place the asparagus bunch on a chopping board and cut where the spear goes from white to green, approximately an inch from the bottom.

You can also run your knife from the bottom of the stalk and cut where you find the least resistance.  With this method, you easily get rid of the tough ends at the same time with minimal effort.

HOW TO COOK ROASTED LEMON GARLIC ASPARAGUS - STEP BY STEP

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C / 400F.
2. Wash and trim your asparagus spears then on a baking tray.
3. Cover the asparagus with lemon juice, minced garlic and olive oil and mix well with your hands to ensure all spears are evenly coated.
4. Spread the spears into a single layer, sprinkle with salt, pepper and grated parmesan (as shown in the picture above), then place in the oven for 10 minutes, or until the asparagus is tender.
5. Serve immediately, sprinkling over extra parmesan if you wish.

TOP TIPS FOR COOKING ROASTED LEMON GARLIC ASPARAGUS

• Make sure you rinse your asparagus well, then chop the woody ends off.  Chop, not bend and snap 😉
• Choose a bunch that has thicker stems.  The thinner stems tender to be less tender and more chewy.
• If you're serving this dish to impress, sprinkle some extra parmesan over before you serve and pop some lemon slices on top.  Fancy.

MORE SCRUMPTIOUS SIDE DISHES

• Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon
• Crispy Roast Potatoes with Rosemary
• Sautéed Cabbage
• Greek Lemon Potatoes
• Sweet Potato Wedges
• Roasted Dutch Carrots with Feta
• Crispy Baked Potato Wedges

If you’ve tried this Roasted Lemon Garlic Asparagus I’d love to hear how you enjoyed it! Pop a comment and a star rating below!

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