Asparagus Tart – Tender asparagus and a creamy cheese sauce on top of flaky, buttery puff pastry is an easy yet impressive dish for any time of the day!
This asparagus tart is magic. Simple ingredients come together to make something tasty, elegantly comforting, and oh so pretty to look at!
And let’s be real; you can’t go wrong with a puff pastry tart.
It’s also a lovely vegetarian dish perfect for breakfast (top it with a fried egg), the main star for brunch, or a light lunch or dinner! It works just as well as part of a spread as it does served with a side salad.
Other Favourite Recipes:
Asparagus Tart Ingredients
Asparagus. Buy the freshest asparagus bunches you can get. But whether they’re pencil asparagus or thick asparagus doesn’t matter; I’ve outlined how to cook both options in the recipe below. Buy the type of asparagus you prefer or can get your hands on.
Cream. I use cream for the base of the sauce as it’s a better texture once everything is baked, but you could swap it our for some ricotta or even cream cheese if you like (though you might have to make some adjustments to the quantity).
Mascarpone. The mascarpone adds some flavour and depth to the cream base for the sauce. Will be runnier without it, be warned!
Pecorino. Ah, pecorino, you’re so lovely! Pecorino makes any cream sauce a thousand times better. You can swap it for parmesan or grana padano, but the salty bite of pecorino stands up to cream a lot better than the others.
Lemon zest. Just a little citrus tang to cut through the rich, creamy, cheesy sauce. (If you don’t need the juice for anything (salad dressing?), squeeze it into and ice tray and save the juice for other recipes.)
Puff pastry. While any puff pastry will work well, and the cheesy cream sauce is rich enough that it doesn’t need it, I still recommend using all-butter puff pastry if you can get it. It’s crisps up better and makes this simple asparagus tart a little more special.
Basil. A final hit of freshness, basil is not just a garnish here, but brings all the flavours together.
Pine nuts. Okay, you can skip the pine nuts if you can’t be bothered or don’t have any. But if you take a few minutes to gently toast them in a dry skillet until they’re golden, and then scatter them over the cooked asparagus tart, you won’t be sorry. Their toasty nuttiness adds another dimension of flavour and complements the fresh asparagus, lemon zest and basil.
How to Make an Asparagus Tart
Store-bought puff pastry makes this asparagus tart a breeze to make.
Prepare the cream cheese sauce. Let the puff pastry sheets thaw as you make the sauce by mixing the cream, mascarpone, pecorino and lemon zest together.
Prepare the pastry. When the puff pastry is thawed, gently score a border – making sure to not cut all the way through the pastry – and then dock the inside a bunch of times with a fork.
Add the toppings. Spread the sauce onto the inside of the puff pastry border, lay the asparagus on top and cover them with a bit more cream sauce.
Bake. Brush the pastry border with an egg wash and place into a hot oven until the pastry is crisp on the bottom and golden and puffed on top. Allow to set for a few minutes and then slice and serve.
Tips and Tricks
- Don’t forget to trim your asparagus spears! To figure out where to trim (or peel if you want longer spears), bend a spear between your hands until the woody end snaps. A bunch of asparagus can usually be trimmed at the same spot, so you can line them up and cut off the rest of the tough ends, or you can snap off each spear individually, which is oddly satisfying.
- Unless you want a tart with a soggy bottom, don’t make it ahead of time. But you can absolutely prep the asparagus and cream sauce in advance. And then all you have to do is layer the sauce and asparagus onto the thawed puff pastry just before you’re ready to bake.
- Rolling out store bought puff pastry – this is dependent on the type of puff pastry that you buy. Some are sold in rolls, and those are generally thicker and need to be rolled out. Other come in squares and are already quite thin, and rolling them out to make them bigger would result in less of a puff while with pastry cooks. Both work well for this asparagus tart recipe.
- Leftovers, if any, can be stored well-wrapped in the fridge for up to 3 days. Slices can then be reheated in a hot oven in about 10 minutes.
Looking for Recipes to Serve with an Asparagus Tart? Try these:
- As part of brunch: Pumpkin Scones
- With a salad for lunch: Plum and Salmon Salad
- With a grain bowl: Fruit and Roasted Vegetable Quinoa Salad
- With a soup for dinner: Parmesan Broth Minestrone with Pistou
Asparagus Tart
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts
- 2 sheets all-butter puff pastry*
- 2 bunches asparagus, washed and patted dry
- 100 ml heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons mascarpone
- 50 g pecorino, freshly grated
- Zest from 1 lemon
- 1 egg
- 3-5 basil stems, leaves removed and roughly torn
Instructions
- In a small dry skillet, toast the pine nuts over low heat, stirring often. This should take a couple of minutes, but watch them closely so the pine nuts don’t burn.2 tablespoons pine nuts
- Preheat the oven to 200°C and line 2 baking trays with baking paper and set aside. (See notes for having defrosted your puff pastry depending on the type you’re using) Remove the puff pastry from the fridge or freezer and leave it on the counter to become malleable.2 sheets all-butter puff pastry*
- For thin or pencil asparagus: Simply trim off the woody ends by holding the asparagus in each hand and gently bending until the bottom part snaps off naturally. For medium or thick asparagus: trim off the woody ends as above and then blanch the spears in salted, boiling water for 1 minute until bright green. Immediately strain and run under cold water to stop the cooking process. Gently pat dry and set aside.2 bunches asparagus
- To make the sauce, combine the cream, mascarpone, pecorino and lemon zest in a small bowl and mix until combined. Taste and season with salt, if needed (don’t season the cream before adding the pecorino, which is a salty cheese).100 ml heavy cream, 2 tablespoons mascarpone, 50 g pecorino, Zest from 1 lemon
- When ready to bake the tart, place the puff pastry sheet onto the prepared baking tray. Using a knife, score a 3-4cm border around the edge – making sure to not cut all the way through the puff pastry. Then, using a fork, dock the puff pastry on the inside of the border. Repeat with the other puff pastry sheet.
- Spread ¼ of the cream sauce onto the puff pastry, staying on the inside of the scored border. Layer on half of the asparagus as rustic or as neatly as you like, and then top with another ¼ of the cream sauce, keeping the spears and ends uncovered. Repeat with the second sheet. (If you’re using a puff pastry roll, you might need to adjust how mush sauce you use, see notes.)
- Combine the egg with a tablespoon of cold water and beat to create an egg wash. Using a pastry brush, brush the outer border of the puff pastry with the egg wash.1 egg
- Place the tarts into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the puff pastry is golden brown, puffed up around the border and crisp on the bottom, swapping the trays over if need be.
- Remove the tarts from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before slicing them into squares or fingers. Scatter over the basil and pine nuts and serve.2 tablespoons pine nuts, 3-5 basil stems
Notes
- A note on puff pastry: if you get puff pastry that is in roll, it’s better to let it sit in the fridge overnight or on the counter for a few hours before trying to unroll it and use it to make a tart. Check the instructions if you’re not sure. If you’re using already rolled puff pastry sheets, they only take about 15 minutes to defrost sitting on the counter.
- There is enough cream sauce here to make 2 tarts using pre-rolled puff pastry sheets. If you’re using a puff pastry roll, you may need to roll it longer shape or only make 1 larger tart.
- Don’t forget to trim your asparagus spears! To figure out where to trim (or peel if you want longer spears), bend a spear between your hands until the woody end snaps. A bunch of asparagus can usually be trimmed at the same spot, so you can line them up and cut off the rest of the tough ends, or you can snap off each spear individually, which is oddly satisfying.
- Leftovers, if any, can be stored well-wrapped in the fridge for up to 3 days. Slices can then be reheated in a hot oven in about 10 minutes.
