Asparagus Cheese Tart

From Martha Stewart

The grass is green, daffodils are blooming, and orange construction barrels are popping up everywhere.  

Spring in Northeast Ohio is here! Do you know how else I can tell? My grocery store has abundant and affordable asparagus.  

I try to cook seasonally, so I've been using a lot of asparagus lately. But it is easy to tire of the same recipes after a while. So I was happy to remember I had saved this recipe a while back.

This was actually really easy to make. I baked the puff pastry and let it cool about 1-2 hours before I finished making this tart, and that worked out just fine. Of course, you can bake it immediately prior to needing it. 

This was great! Rich and cheesy... yum! Serve as an appetizer or make it a meal by adding a salad like we did. To save on cost, I used Fontina cheese instead of Gruyere.  Visit the link above for a great how-to video on making this tart. Happy Spring!!

Ingredients:

Flour for dusting work surface
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
5 1/2 ounces (2 cups) Gruyere or Fontina cheese, shredded
1 1/2 pounds medium asparagus, woody ends broken off
1 T. olive oil
Salt and pepper


Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. On a flat, floured surface, use a floured rolling pin to roll the puff pastry into a 16-by-10-inch rectangle. Trim off any uneven edges with a sharp knife. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, then put the rolled out pastry on the baking sheet.

With a sharp knife, lightly score the dough 1 inch in from the edges to mark a rectangle; this will create the crust. Scoring allows this part of the pastry to rise and form the crust while baking. Use a fork to poke holes in the dough inside of the crust at 1/2-inch intervals. Do not score the crust. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.

Remove the pastry from the oven, and sprinkle with the cheese. Trim the asparagus spears to fit inside the tart shell; arrange in a single layer over the cheese. Alternate ends and tips. Brush with olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Bake until the asparagus is tender, 20 to 25 minutes.


Yields: 6 dinner-sized portions