Simply roasting asparagus and topping it with shaved Parmesan gives you limp spears and rubbery cheese. To get crisp-tender asparagus, we salted it to rid it of excess moisture. From there, we dipped the spears in a combination of honey and egg whites whipped to soft peaks and coated them with a mixture of bread crumbs and Parmesan. Finally, to reinforce the Parmesan flavor, we topped the spears with an extra dose of cheese at the end of roasting.

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Parmesan-Crusted Asparagus
What would it take to get a super-crunchy coating that stayed put on tender asparagus? A borrowed technique and two surprising ingredients.
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SERVES 4 TO 6 AS A SIDE DISH

Avoid pencil-thin asparagus for this recipe. Work quickly when tossing the asparagus with the egg whites, as the salt will rapidly begin to deflate the whites.