Roasted Tuscan Asparagus

Spring is in the air! I am sitting out on my front porch, drinking a citrus spritzer (sparking water with lots of fresh squeezed grapefruit, lime, and lemon juice) and staring at my beautiful pink flowering bush. Blake is at a charity poker tournament benefiting the UVa Cancer Center and I just returned from a very relaxing morning of shopping at the Farmer's Market, practicing yoga outside, and taking a nature walk. Tonight we are going to open a bottle of Proscecco (as I always say, every day is a reason to celebrate so open the sparkling wine!) and make our own calzones.

Last night, after a very busy week of work and social events, we spent a special evening at home sharing a bottle of wine, recreating one of our Tuscan pasta dishes, and chatting for hours about our hopes for the future. As our appetizer, we made a Roasted Tuscan Asparagus dish with fresh local asparagus that I picked up this week from our CSA. Enjoy!


Roasted Tuscan Asparagus

1 pound fresh asparagus
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
salt and pepper



Toss together asparagus, 2 tablespoons olive oil, minced garlic, cherry tomatoes, and salt and pepper.
On baking sheet, arrange asparagus in one layer and roasted at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
While asparagus is baking, whisk together 2 tablespoons olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, and cheese.
When asparagus is done, toss with vinaigrette and sprinkle with pine nuts.