I have been staying with my sister in Southern Florida during the arrival of my first nephew… and I decided to make a bunch of recipes that could be quite challenging or expensive to make in Puerto Rico – challenging because not all ingredients are readily available anywhere, and when you finally find the ingredients you need they’re not as fresh as you would like or are very expensive to just try out a recipe.
Such is the case with this tart… I had seen a version of this recipe a few years ago and now I said it was time to try it out. But of course, I can’t seem to follow a recipe to a “T”. I couldn’t remember where I had read this before or the specifics on all the ingredients.
So I had to start all over again with a recipe all my own. I think I may need to thank Martha or someone else at the Food Network for the inspiration…
ASPARAGUS TART
1 package puffed pastry, thawed in the refrigerator for about 3-4 hours 1 package of thin asparagus, trimmed of the woodsy part in the bottom About ¾ cup of Parmesan cheese About 4 oz of goat cheese Garlic Salt and Pepper Olive Oil Some spelt or whole wheat pastry flour to roll out the pastry
- Preheat oven to 425F.
- Open up each sheet of puff pastry and with a little flour stretch it just a bit… enough to kind of erase the creases but not that much that the pastry sheet would not fit the baking tray you have.
- Using a paring knife, score a ½ inch border around the pastry sheet but be careful not to cut through the pastry.
- Prick the inside of the pastry using a fork. Prick especially the corners to make sure the inside will not puff up when cooked in the oven. Make sure the border you created is not pricked… you want the outside border to puff up.
- Scatter Parmesan cheese on the pricked portion of the pastry. Sprinkle it evenly all over the bottom. Start placing asparagus one next to the other, tips facing out and alternating one tip towards the right and the next tip towards the left. You just want to make it look pretty… no matter how you place the asparagus, it’ taste good all the same, so no worries.
- After you create a whole layer of asparagus on top of the pastry, sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper. Drizzle some olive oil on top. Afterwards, place dollops of goat cheese on top of asparagus.
- Bake in oven for about 25 minutes… or until the edges are puffed up and look golden brown.
I made this recipe the other day for my sister, brother in law, uncle, my sister’s mother-in-law, mom… everyone was impressed. The flavors are spectacular. Even my uncle who is super quiet said I graduated myself in the kitchen – he’s not used to tasting my cooking at all. My sister’s mother-in-law was so pleased she told me she wanted to learn how to make it to replicate it again at home.
This will definitely become part of my repertoire for when people come over to visit… or even to impress my next boyfriend.
KarmaFree Cooking 
This looks really delicious, I love all the ingredients. I followed you on twitter and saw this post. Love your blog concept. Stop by my web site for a visit when you get a chance.
Suzi
i will, i will!!!!
Hello! I’m a bit of an amateur cook, so I figured this would be a great experiment for me; and besides that, it sounded delicious what with having asparagus and all.
i had no goat cheese, so I used mozzarella instead, but figured the garlic and rosemary infused olive oil kinda made up for that, eh? It was also my first time using puff pastry. Besides being somewhat overcooked, it turned out excellently. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Regina… I am glad you liked the recipe. Next time, try to take out the tart a bit earlier. I usually look at it once in a while thru the oven window and take it out right when I see the crust is golden. The times given are an average of the times it usually takes me several times I make it before I post the recipe. Maybe your oven is hotter than mine… 😉