Roasted Asparagus With Buttered Almonds, Capers and Dill

Roasted Asparagus With Buttered Almonds, Capers and Dill
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
About 20 minutes
Rating
5(453)
Comments
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Cooking asparagus is one of the easiest kitchen tasks around. There is almost no preparation, the asparagus is roasted plain in the oven, and all that's left to do is fry some almonds and capers to spoon on top. This can be served as part of a festive spread of salads and seasonal dips. It also works well as a side for meat, fish or grain dishes.

Featured in: A God Among Vegetables

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Ingredients

Yield:6 side-dish servings
  • 1⅓pounds/600 grams asparagus, woody ends trimmed
  • 3tablespoons olive oil
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 2tablespoons/30 grams unsalted butter
  • Scant ¼ cup/20 grams sliced (flaked) almonds
  • 3tablespoons/30 grams baby capers, patted dry on paper towels (kitchen paper)
  • ¼ to ½cup/5 to 10 grams roughly chopped fresh dill
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

138 calories; 13 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 5 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 3 grams protein; 285 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit/220 degrees Celsius. Line a baking sheet (baking tray) with parchment paper.

  2. Step 2

    In a large bowl or on a work surface, use your hands or tongs to toss the asparagus with 1 tablespoon oil, a generous pinch of salt and a good grind of pepper. Arrange asparagus in the paper-lined pan, spaced well apart, and roast, shaking the pan occasionally, until asparagus is soft and starting to brown in places, 8 to 12 minutes, depending on thickness. Remove from oven and set aside in the pan.

  3. Step 3

    In a small or medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat until foamy. Add almonds and fry, stirring frequently, until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes (reduce heat as needed to prevent scorching). Pour almonds and butter evenly over asparagus.

  4. Step 4

    Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to the pan and heat over high heat. Once hot, add the capers and fry, stirring continuously, until they have opened up and become crisp, 1 to 2 minutes.

  5. Step 5

    Using a slotted spoon, remove capers from the oil and sprinkle over the asparagus. Add dill. Using tongs or two spoons, mix gently to combine, transfer to a large plate and serve warm.

Ratings

5 out of 5
453 user ratings
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Comments

Really delicious! To make things easier, I toasted the almonds in the butter, and saved it all to a small bowl. I then fried the capers in the same pan. When crispy, I removed them from the pan with a slotted spoon to the bowl with the almonds and used the caper oil to toss the asparagus. Everything was ready when the asparagus came out of the oven. So easy and so good.

To put it more bluntly: asparagus cooking time varies by temperature and the thickness of the asparagus stalks. Test for doneness with a knife. BTW, the time given yields nicely done asparagus - nothing burnt about it.

I found this a bit fussy for a side dish, when plain roasted asparagus is so delicious by itself, and all the interesting toppings just fell off the spears. BUT the second time I made this, I chopped the asparagus after roasting and tossed the whole thing on farro dressed with lemon and olive oil. It was a fantastic grain salad and complete meal! The crispy capers and almonds, leafy dill, and tender, sizzled asparagus gave the salad a lot of character. Next time may serve with an egg on top!

Not fond of green beans, but had asparagus on hand. Both veg and salmon were delicious. Marinade might have some other uses, hummmm.

Easy way to make a "special" side dish

Delicious! I used chopped almonds (because that's what I had) and cooked the asparagus on the grill, otherwise followed exactly. I made sauce in advance, combining the almonds and fried capers in a dish while preparing a steak. After steak was off the grill the asparagus went on. Topped it with sauce and sprinkled with dill. Also, upped the sauce to asparagus ratio by making full amount of sauce but asparagus for 2 and finished scooping up extra sauce with my spoon. The sauce was amazing!

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