Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Asparagus Tart

This is a wonderful recipe I originally found on Not Without Salt. I've also added thin sliced tomatoes to this underneath the asparagus, and that was wonderful too.  The recipe here is just a tad different in preparation and in a couple of ingredients; if you want the original, you can find it here.




Asparagus Tart

about a pound of fresh asparagus spears, snapped to remove tough ends
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 package (1 sheet or piece) of puff pastry, thawed
1/4 cup cream cheese (or Mascarpone, if you have it), softened
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 large clove garlic, minced
red pepper flakes, to taste (a good pinch or so)
½ cup pecans, toasted and roughly chopped
shavings of parmesan cheese, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste

Pre-heat your oven to 420 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the puff pastry on it. Roll the pastry longways to measure about 8x12. If you have to prep ingredients now, cover the pastry with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator until ready to assemble the tart.

Preheat a grill pan on the stove.  While that heats, put the asparagus in a large bowl and drizzle the olive oil over it, tossing to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Grill the asparagus about 2-3 minutes on each side, then remove to a rack or place on paper towels. Set aside.

In a bowl, combine cream cheese, cream, garlic, red pepper flakes, and salt & pepper. Retrieve the puff pastry and spread the cream cheese mixture over the pastry, leaving about a 3/4 inch border.  Place the asparagus spears in a single row over the cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle with salt & pepper if needed, and bake for 20 minutes. Lower the heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes. Remove from oven, place the parmesan shavings over the top, and put back in the oven for 1 minute. Remove from oven, sprinkle with pecans, and serve hot.

Delish. :)



1 comment:

  1. Gorgeous! I'm tempted to consider that tart a single-serving recipe...

    ReplyDelete