ASPARAGUS CHEESE TART PLUS

Use a fork to poke holes inside the rectangle. Using a sharp knife, score the pastry about an inch in from the edge, forming a rectangle. Roll out the pastry dough to approximately 9 inches by 12 inches. Make the tart: Lightly flour work surface. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Trim the rinsed asparagus by cutting off and discarding the lower 1½ to 2 inches of woody stems set aside.Īdd the goat cheese, egg, Dijon, parsley, salt and pepper to a small bowl whisk until smooth.

Transfer to a paper-lined plate and set aside. Add the pancetta saute for 2 to 3 minutes until just crisping. Pour in the oil, and when hot but not smoking, toss in the onions, sauteing for 2 to 3 minutes until they’ve softened.

Remove the cheese and egg from the fridge to start coming to room temperature. Thaw the puff pastry sheet on a tray covered with a towel for 30 to 40 minutes.

ASPARAGUS CHEESE TART PLUS

Pinch black pepper, plus more for finishingġ teaspoon heavy whipping cream (or an egg beaten with a tablespoon of water)Ģ teaspoons good quality extra-virgin olive oil ¼ teaspoon sea salt, plus more for finishing ⅓ cup finely diced red onions (or shallots) Asparagus Goat Cheese Tartĥ ounces honey goat cheese, room temperatureġ teaspoon olive oil, plus more for drizzling I love serving this with an arugula salad with a simple sherry-Dijon vinaigrette. If your spears are overly thick, first blanch them in boiling water for 2 minutes, followed by an ice bath to stop the cooking. Bake the tart with average to thick spears for 20 to 25 minutes. If you use thinner asparagus spears (the only kind I found when I went shopping for this photo shoot), you can get away with an 18- to 20-minute bake in a 400-degree oven. Baking twice makes the crust overly flaky, with most winding up on my shirt. I used to do a prebake - or blind bake - but I no longer bother to do so unless I have excessively wet or heavy toppings. This simple act allows the pastry to lay flat during baking, as the holes help steam escape, preventing air bubbles.Īfter you’ve docked the surface, add the toppings and bake. Docking is a term used in baking that is just a fancy way of saying to prick the dough with a fork. The toppings will go inside the rectangle, while the outside edges need to be clear of toppings so they puff up in a flaky crust.īefore adding the toppings, you’ll need to dock the surface. To create the puffed edges, make a rectangular box, using a sharp knife to score the pastry about an inch from the edge.

If there are any cracks in the dough, before you begin rolling, wet the area with a bit of water using your finger and then pinch the seams closed. Once the puff pastry has thawed, roll it out to about 9 inches by 12 inches on a very lightly floured surface. Use that time to prep the rest of the ingredients so they’re ready to go when the pastry is. Puff pastry sheets need to thaw, but it’s a simple process of removing a sheet from its packaging and placing it on a tray on the counter covered with a kitchen towel for 30 to 40 minutes. But I’ve used it in a pinch, with success. It contains no butter, unfortunately, so it’s missing a bit on the flavor scale. If that’s all you can find, by all means, get it. The puff pastry most widely available is Pepperidge Farm. Dufour Pastry Kitchens is a great choice and is locally available at Vons, Jensen’s Finest Foods and some Albertsons. Frankly, I know from my past attempts at making croissants that lamination - folding and rolling butter into dough repeatedly to create super-thin layers - is not how I want to spend an entire morning when I can buy puff pastry sheets already done for me, allowing me to focus on other things.Įspecially if that store-bought variety is delightful - the key is to find one that is all butter, if you can. There are plenty of recipes online and videos on YouTube to guide you. Working with puff pastryįirst of all, you could make your own. And to balance the sweetness, I now add a bit of Dijon to the mix to add a tangy sharpness. I love the hint of sweetness the honey brings to the earthy tartness of the goat cheese. Another change I’ve made to my original recipe is swapping out regular goat cheese for honey goat cheese (available at Trader Joe’s).

Asparagus cheese tart