As with any style of cooking asparagus, remove the woody stem and place the fresh section into a roasting tray and drizzle with a little olive oil together with a pinch of salt and pepper.
Toss the asparagus to make sure they are all coated and seasoned and then pop into the oven and roast for 10 – 12 minutes or until lovely and tender.
Remove and serve.
Grilling
Turn on the grill to a high heat
Place the asparagus on a grill pan and lightly drizzle with olive oil together with a pinch of salt and pepper.
Pop under the grill and cook for 3 - 5 minutes or until soft and tender.
Steaming
Place the asparagus into the steaming tray or basket and place over a pan of boiling water. Add the lid and let steam for 2 – 4 minutes. The asparagus will turn a brighter green.
Once tender, remove from the steamer and serve. However, if you not eating straight away dunk the asparagus into cold/ice water to stop the cooking process and preserve the colour.
Frying
Place a griddle pan over a high heat and while heating up, lightly drizzle olive oil over the spears.
When hot, add the asparagus in a single layer and season with salt and pepper.
Fry for 1 – 2 minutes turning every 30 seconds until they have become tender. To check if cooked, lift the root end up and if the asparagus droops its ready.
Air Frying
Preheat the air fryer to 200C/400F and lightly drizzle the asparagus with olive oil.
Season with salt and pepper and toss to make sure they are fully coated and lay in the air fryer basket in a single layer. You may have to cook in batches, keeping the cooked ones warm in the oven.
Cook for 4 minutes turn over and cook for a further 3 - 4 minutes. Frying time will be less if the spears are thin.
BBQ
Drizzle the spears with olive oil and place over a medium heat section of the barbecue perpendicular to the grill. Turn every 15 seconds to make sure they don’t stick or burn.
Barbecue for 2 minutes or until tender.
Remove and serve.
Raw
Whilst we realise this is not actually a cooked method but to cover all ways of cooking and serving we though it should be included.
Pell the outer layer as they can be rather tough.
Using a vegetable peeler, peel the asparagus into thin strips leaving the core behind as this can be tough when uncooked.