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.