english asparagus is back in season and, as ever, i am loving it! there are a number of different ways to cook asparagus although the classic is to steam it. last year i tried char-grilling it on my griddle for the very delicious ottolenghi recipe for char-grilled asparagus, courgettes and manouri salad.

the char-grilling was supposed to produce a smokey flavour but the end result just tasted overly oily to me. roasting was next on my list which i tried last night (with only my second bunch of english asparagus this year!) and it had that smokey flavour. this was probably helped along the way by my use of smoked salt which i added both before and after cooking.

roasted asparagus with smoked salt

prepare your asparagus and place in a roasting dish which is big enough to hold them in a single layer. drizzle with a little olive oil and jiggle the dish so the asparagus becomes coated with the oil. season lightly with smoked salt and black pepper. roast at 200c for 10-15 minutes until the asparagus is just ready. squeeze over a little lemon juice and sprinkle with a little extra smoked salt. serve.