A delicious appetizer with quick-roasted asparagus and Parmesan cheese. Simple flavors have never been so good!
This Parmesan cheese and asparagus appetizer is one of my favorite things to make for friends and family. It’s super-quick and easy to prepare, and yet it always gets many compliments. Friends always ask how I cooked the asparagus and they always want to know exactly what’s on it. When I tell them that it’s just a few ingredients, they’re always surprised.
The Parmesan Is The Key
It’s really the cheese that makes this appetizer fantastic. It’s cut into big shards and you pick them up and eat them, and the asparagus, like finger food. People aren’t used to eating big pieces of Parmesan cheese this way. The big slivers of cheese aren’t as strong and smelly as when shredded. Instead, they’re salty and soft and a perfect companion to the asparagus.
How To Make This Roasted Asparagus Appetizer
To make this great Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan appetizer, toss the asparagus with olive oil, salt, and pepper and then roast it for a short time. You don’t want it mushy. Let it cool.
Transfer it to a serving platter and top with the big shards of Parmesan cheese. To make these shards, you get a block of Parmesan and then use a potato peeler to shave off thin slices. Drizzle everything with olive oil and sprinkle it with coarse salt (either sea salt or kosher) and freshly ground coarse black pepper.
I use a pair of ice tongs set on the platter to serve the asparagus. I usually serve this as a finger food. Long stems of asparagus and shards of Parm are easy to pick up, for sure. You can certainly serve this plated as a side dish as well. Maybe I just like more occasions to eat with my fingers.
For another great and simple way to prepare asparagus, check out my Air Fryer Asparagus recipe.
Enjoy! – Christine xo
Podcast Episode On Roasting Asparagus
Listen to learn how to make this recipe, along with some great tips from Christine:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
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Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
DESCRIPTION
Get this delicious appetizer recipe for quick-roasted asparagus with Parmesan cheese. It’s a crowd-pleaser as a finger food or plated.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. of medium-thickness asparagus, trimmed, washed and dried
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. coarse black pepper, divided
- 3 or 4 oz. wedge of Parmesan cheese (you’ll only use about half of it but you need a nice-sized one like this to get the grabbable strips of cheese off of it)
- 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F.
- Lay the asparagus in a single layer on a large pan. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and sprinkle with the table salt and 1/4 teaspoon of the black pepper. Toss it all around to coat.
- Roast uncovered for 5 minutes, until asparagus is the greenest of greens and just yields to the tines of a fork. You might be tempted to let it stay in there for another minute or two. I advise against it. If the asparagus softens too much it will not be as bright or as crisp.
- Remove the pan from the oven and let the asparagus come to room temperature on the pan. This will allow them to continue to cook just a tiny bit more.
- Leave them at room temperature for up to an hour or cover and transfer to the fridge for up to 4 hours.
- Transfer the asparagus to a serving plate making sure that their tips all point in the same direction (this is just because they look prettiest this way). Use a potato peeler to shave 20-30 big stripes of Parmesan onto the asparagus. Tuck some of the Parmesan down under the asparagus so that it is evenly distributed and not all piled up on top.
- Drizzle everything with the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 tsp. of coarse black pepper and with the sea salt. Take the platter to your guests and immediately serve some asparagus and cheese onto your own plate and then pick up a piece or two with your fingers so that they know it’s ok to eat it with their fingers.
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This post originally appeared in November 2012 and was revised and republished in April 2021.
Delicious and Easy. I did cook mine a minute longer as they were thicker than the grocery store ones.
Thank you for sharing, Nancy!
Thank you for generously sharing your simple delicious homecooked recipes
You’re welcome. Thanks for the kind compliment!
ooooooh love that picture of that chubby bubby enjoying asparagus! How precious!
Thanks Jaden! She is truly a cutie patootie. I can’t believe she turned 1 last week.
This sounds simply divine to this asparagus lover! Pinning it! :) Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Susi! You know, I’ve even had people who don’t like asparagus much swoon over this dish. Not sure why exactly since it’s so simple but I always find myself swooning too!
I love asparagus can’t wait to try this one!
I’m an asparagus lover as well. Let me know how you guys like it :).
This looks soooo good! And easy too. I love parmesan cheese so I can’t wait to give it a try very soon.
Let me know how it turns out! Thanks for visiting and for commenting.
This looks so so yummy. I love both asparagus and parmesan, and I love how simple this sounds. Can’t wait to try it!
Nanci,
If you do try it, let me know how you like it. It’s a family favorite over here for sure!