HOW TO COOK ASPARAGUS | 15-minute oven roasted asparagus recipe

Hello my friends, it's Dani, and today I'm sharing a kitchen basic and showing you how to cook asparagus in the most delicious way. This is a roasted asparagus recipe, it cooks right in the oven and is simply seasoned with some olive oil, salt and pepper, and then it's finished with parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes. I promise you, cooking asparagus in the oven is not only delicious, but it's quick, easy and super doable. And according to my family, this is the best asparagus recipe. Now whenever you're roasting asparagus, or any vegetable for that matter, it's important that your oven is nice and hot so that you get that nice golden brown caramelized exterior on your asparagus while getting that nice tender creamy center. So the first thing I do is arrange my oven rack so that it's right in the center of the oven, and then I will preheat my oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Then to prep our asparagus, the first thing you're going to notice is often when you buy your asparagus in a bunch, there may be some rubber bands around it, so we're going to obviously take those off. And then we want to cut off the woody ends of the asparagus. Now sometimes you can see this with your eye because the color of the asparagus stalk will actually change, the top will be bright and vibrant, and then as you work your way down, it can turn like a light pale green or even a white or a purple. But that is not always the case. So to get those ends off, here's what you're going to do. You have one of two options. You can either do this individually, pick up your asparagus, gently push your thumbs inwards as if you're going to bend it in half, and it will naturally snap where the tender stalk of the asparagus meets that woody end. Very cool. So you can do it that way, or you can do one or two that way, use it as a visual example, then just line up your asparagus and cut off those woody ends. Both roads lead to Rome, so you can choose whichever one lights you up. From here, I'm just going to give my asparagus a good rinse under some cold water, make sure that it's nice and clean, and then I lay it out on a clean dish towel and just pat it dry. It is very important when you're roasting asparagus or roasting any vegetable that the vegetable is dry before you get it on your roasting pan, because if it's wet, if there's a lot of moisture there, your veggie is going to end up steaming and we're not going to get that beautiful caramelization and that depth of flavor that we're looking for. Next, I'm going to place that dry asparagus on a rimmed baking sheet. This is also called a half sheet pan, and I'm going to drizzle it with two teaspoons of olive oil. You could also use an avocado oil here, but you're going to see that you don't need very much. Two teaspoons is plenty. And then I'm going to simply season this with some sea salt and a little bit of black pepper. So yes, this is very, very simple, but I promise you, sometimes simple is best. Then using my hands, I'll just gently toss the asparagus, roll it around in the olive oil and the salt and the pepper, making sure that each asparagus spear is lightly coated, and then you just want to lay it so that it's in a single file on your baking sheet. Just try to give it a little bit of room. You don't want them on top of each other, and you don't want to overcrowd the pan. Again, two key tips whenever you're roasting vegetables, your vegetables need to be nice and dry, and they need to have a little bit of space on the pan so that the heat can circulate around the vegetables and they don't end up steaming. From here, I'm going to pop my seasoned asparagus into my preheated oven and let that cook for about 10 minutes. Depending on the thickness of your asparagus, it can take anywhere between 7 and 15 minutes to cook. The thinner the asparagus spears, the quicker they're going to cook. The thicker they are, the more time they're going to take. My asparagus were about a medium thickness, just like this here, and I find the 10 minute mark is just perfect. Now, you're going to know your asparagus is done because it's going to have this beautiful golden color on the outside, and it's going to be nice and tender and creamy in the center. And while you can certainly enjoy it just the way it is, my favorite way to top it is with a bit of grated Parmesan cheese and a pinch of red pepper flakes for a little bit of heat. Simple, quick, doable, and so very delicious. Mastering simple kitchen basics just like this is such an easy way to work more vegetables into your diet. And if you're looking for even more veggie inspiration, be sure you check out my best broccoli recipe as well. So good. I'll see you guys over there. Cheers!