Musical pairing – I Gotta Feeling by The Black Eyed Peas
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This is going to be a super quick post as this is a super quick no-recipe, recipe – and it’s delicious to boot! My ‘Nati’ family made this for a family gathering several months back and I’ve loved it ever since. I hope you do too!
NO-RECIPE, RECIPE ASPARAGUS TART
One of Martha Stewart’s Cookbooks, although I can’t remember which one
INGREDIENTS:
Fresh Asparagus, washed and patted dry
Gruyere or Swiss Cheese (approx ½ cup), grated
Puff Pastry (preferably a brand without trans fats), slightly thawed
Salt
Pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
METHOD:
Wash and pat dry asparagus; snap or cut off tough, lower ends; set aside. Unfold and gently roll puff pastry to smooth out seams; I use Trader Joe’s puff pastry and it comes flat out of the box (no rolling needed!). Score puff pastry approximately ½-1 inches around the edges and prick with fork all over (they call this ‘docking’ in the pastry world).
Spread grated cheese evenly over bottom of puff pastry just to the scored area leaving that ½-1 inch edge free of cheese.
Lay asparagus across the puff pastry horizontally, alternating spears top to bottom, i.e., place the first spear tip at the top of the puff pastry (inside the scored lines), place the second spear tip pointing toward the bottom of the puff pastry (see photo if this doesn’t make sense).
Salt & Pepper the tart and place into a 400-degree oven for approximately 20 minutes or until pastry is puffed and golden brown and cheese is melted. Remove from oven and drizzle with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Cut and serve.
This tart works well as a main dish served with a salad for a vegetarian meal but it can be served as a side with a chicken or pork dish or you could also cut into bite-sized pieces to serve as an appetizer. I’ve even topped this tart with a poached egg and serve it for breakfast – YUM!
SMITH BITES NOTES:
Pencil thin asparagus works best for this recipe
Gruyere cheese works best, but if you can’t find it Swiss is a fine substitute
I use Trader Joe’s Puff Pastry; any puff pastry can be substituted but look for a brand without the trans fats. Don’t let the pastry thaw completely as that will result in a flat dough that won’t ‘puff’!
Vicki ~ LOL – summers at Birdseye back in the day made it difficult to like ANY veg! You certainly could slice the zucchini either way or I might try slicing the zucchini on the diagonal about 1/8 – 1/4″ thick. I would caramelize the onions if you want a sweeter onion flavor; so the order would be: puff pastry, cheese, onion, zucchini.
OK I’m sure this is good….but ….the summers at Birdseye ruined my taste for asparagus, so I might try it w/ zucchini and onions. Would you slice the zucchini’s horizontal so keeping the same type of look?
Oh Sweetlife ~ Eating the entire thing by yourself is entirely doable . . . not that I’ve tried or anything . . .
what a spring treat…I bet I could the whole thing…did I just say that??
sweetlife
Well it was a “rough” puff pastry – I have a post on it, if you are interested, it’s very easy if you are already comfortable rolling.
You grow asparagus from crowns – plant the crowns, and they will start producing the third year (in quantity). We have 1000 crowns (we sell a bit).
It IS the perfect spring recipe! And my mind is already spinning with several different veggies from the garden that would work like: zucchini, eggplant, caramelized onions, even potatoes! Mouth watering already!
We’ve been making one of these a week down here lately! It’s such a perfect spring recipe : )
Sofya ~ I’m soooo impressed that you have asparagus growing in your garden! Have wanted to grow asparagus for years now and just haven’t done it yet – and scratch puff pastry? Wow!
This is great – very useful. My asparagus is about to pop up and I just mastered the most beautiful, easy from scratch rough puff pastry. Thanks! Can’t wait to try it.