The ancient Roman emperors built special ships called “asparagus” precisely to fetch asparagus at harvest time from every province of the Empire. In Pompeii there are many mosaics in the patrician houses which attest to the predilection of the ancients for this spring vegetable.
Their traditional cooking is steamed or lightly boiled.
This recipe, instead, is oven roasted. The asparagus get crunchy and tasty.
Oven-roasted asparagus
- Preparation time: 20 minutes
- Ingredients for 4 servings
- Difficulty: Easy recipe
- Ingredients
- 1 bunch of asparagus
- Extra virgin olive oil to taste
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds
- Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Wash the asparagus well. Remove the woody ends, then grab a stalk of asparagus at either end and bend until it snaps. It will naturally snap where it starts to get tough. Use a peeler to clean the underside of the vegetables.
- Grease the baking tray with oil.
- Arrange the stalks in a single layer in a baking dish.
- Season with a drizzle of oil, salt and pepper, and the sesame seeds.
- Add a few tablespoons of water to create steam.
- Cook for about ten to fifteen minutes.
Tips to ensure the success of the dish:
- The asparagus must all be of the same thickness for uniform cooking.
- They are an ideal accompaniment for baked fish.
