Monday, April 26, 2010

asparagus and goat cheese tart

 I love savory pies, tarts, galettes, turnovers, quiches... anything with a little crust wrapped around a lot of flavor. This is a recipe to play with and adjust to what's in your garden/market and pantry. Please be brave and experiment. The most important part is an easy crust that you don't have to roll out. Patting a crust into a tart pan just make this feel less fussy, and I'm more apt to make it spontaneously. There were two variations the other night: one with goat cheese and a light custard, the other minus the custard and featuring gruyere. Both were delicious!
No Roll Crust
1 1/2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 a stick of cold butter cut into small pieces
3 tablespoons of cold water
-Throw it all into a food processor and blend until it starts to stick together.
-Take small handfuls and pat it into a tart pan until you've evenly dispersed a thin layer.

Goat Cheese and Asparagus Tart
goat cheese/chevre (a couple of ounces, a little goes a long way)
scallions (caramelized onions is also delish)
sliced and slightly parboiled potatoes
1 cup of milk
2 eggs
bunch of asparagus with ends sliced off


-preheat oven to 375 degrees
-pat your crust evenly into tart pan
-cover bottom with potato slices
-dot on goat cheese to taste
-artfully lay out asparagus
-sprinkle on chives
-combine milk and eggs with some salt and pepper to taste.
-Set tart pan on cookie sheet
-pour milk mixture over the tart
-bake until golden and firm in the center

Another option for non goat cheese eaters is to add a few more potatoes,  leave out the custard and substitute the chevre with gruyere. Either variety makes a delicious little supper! We ate them along side sauteed dandelion greens that we had just gathered. A little pre-dinner foraging always adds a bit of magic to the meal.
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28 comments:

  1. When should I be over then?

    I made goats cheese the other day, and I now have asparagus in my fridge. I think it's meant to be.

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  2. Oh yum!!! That looks so good!!! Happy days to you all!!!

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  3. Brilliant! I keep chickens so I always have fresh eggs but somehow finding the time to make a crust keeps me from real spontaneous quiche making. this solves my problem! thanks again for you and your blog.

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  4. Oh my goodness. I want to make this right now! Thank you.

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  5. Thank you! I've been wanting to try a savory tart and this one will be it. Thanks for the inspiration for this evenings dinner!

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  6. sounds super yummy! we are up to our ears in fresh asparagus from the local farm here.

    one question though... do you need to grease your tart pan first with this crust recipe? i too love quiches, but i don't like making traditional pastry dough at all.

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  7. Jennifer- no greasing. plenty of butter in the crust already. Just press in firmly. enjoy!

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  8. mmmmm! we made an grilled balsamic asparagus, sundried tomato,and smoked salmon pizza the other night, delicious! was a clean out the fridge dinner!

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  9. Wow! This puts my sad little ham and cheese quiches to shame. (the last one I made turned out blech.) I love that pan! One question, what do you mean by "leave out the custard"? What custard? I'm sorry, I'm awful in the kitchen!

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  10. Asparagus and goat cheese are two of my absolute favorite things. Can't wait to try this recipe. Yum!

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  11. I think asparagus is such an under-appreciated veggie. I also love quiche... some of my favorite things combined - yum!

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  12. aspargas and goat cheese, I'm drooling already

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  13. I see we all love this combo!

    Betz- I'm sure your quiches are wonderful! Quiches have three basic parts that go into a crust: a layer of grated(or dotted bits if it's soft)cheese, vegetables (and/or meat) and the custard that you pour over the top. The custard is made of varying ratios of milk/cream and eggs. Quiches all have custards, but you can make a tart with or without it if you choose. Sorry if I wasn't clear...

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  14. I was just thinking that I needed to find a new recipe to use up the yummy log of goat cheese in my fridge. This is so perfect and will also use up the rest of my asparagus. It looks gorgeous and I can't wait to make it! Thanks so much for sharing.

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  15. It looks so yummy, Maya, and would make a perfect spring meal! I think this will be the year to finally try eating dandelion greens, too!

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  16. That looks delicious. I'm not about to start eating the odd dandelion on my lawn, mind. The neighbour's cat likes to claim our lawn as its territory on a daily basis...

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  17. Oh boy! Now THAT looks like exactly the food I want right now. (I think I licked the monitor.)

    Jody

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  18. That looks so delicious!

    -Amy
    Crafting by Candlelight

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  19. These photos just made me hungry - I don't have the ingredients on hand though. Maybe tomorrow ;P I'm off cheese though I will think of how to substitute....

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  20. The tart looks delicious. I'm not gonna lie...I'm not sold on the dandelion greens!

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  21. MMmmmmm, I love asparagus but my kids aren't so keen on it. I am sure this would win them over. I will have to give it a try.

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  22. Fantastic! I'll bet the wheat flour could be replaced with rice or oat, too, for the non-wheaties. Hey, we raid our lawn, too! Right now it is violet season.

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  23. That looks and sounds delicious! I am all for no-roll too!

    Annie

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  24. Beautiful! Looks so good - and of course, there is no shortage of dandelion greens around here either...lol.

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  25. I made this for dinner last night -- it was superb!! Thanks for sharing.

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  26. well I know what I'm making for supper tonight!

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  27. I just had to let you know that I made the asparagus and goat cheese tart tonight for dinner, and it was wonderful! And I've already sent the recipe along to my asparagus-fan mom.

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