Asparagus Tart

5 from 2 votes

An easy cream cheese pastry, holds a pound of roasted asparagus highlighted with lemon in a low fat quiche mixture topped with parmesan cheese.

Prep Time40

Cook Time25

Total Time1 5

Course: Main Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Asparagus Tart, easy to make, savory tart

Servings:

Calories: 418kcal

Author: Helen S. Fletcher

Equipment

9" tart pan with removable bottom

Ingredients

Cream Cheese Pastry

¾ cup +1T all-purpose flour (114 grams)
½ teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter (75 grams)
3 ounces cream cheese (85 grams)

Asparagus Tart Filling

1 pound fresh asparagus (454 grams)
2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil
½ cup low fat cottage cheese
1 cup low fat plain yogurt
3 large eggs
1 ½ teaspoon cornstarch or sweet rice flour
½ to 1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon zest
½ teaspoon salt
¼ - ½ teasp cayenne pepper
OR
½ teaspoon black pepper
4 ounces parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions

Asparagus

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9" tart pan with removable bottom with a non-stick baking spray. Set aside.
Trim the bottoms of the asparagus of any woody stalks. Toss the asparagus with the oil making sure all of it is covered.
Line a half sheet pan with foil and place the asparagus in a single layer in the pan. Salt and pepper to taste.
Bake 8 minutes. Remove and cool.

Cream Cheese Crust - see the photos in the Step by Step instructions.

Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a processor. Pulse several times to blend.
Cut the butter into pieces as well as the cream cheese. Add to the processor, placing them in a circle over the flour. Process until a ball forms.
Remove from the process and divide into 3 pieces about 90 grams each. Remove 1 teaspoon from each piece, shape into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Set the little piece aside.
Roll two of the balls into 14" lengths. Place each of them around the rim of the pan with the ends overlapping.
Wet the ends lightly and press together. Press the ropes firmly into the sides of the pan. Extend the dough for about 1 ½" from the sides of the pan into to middle by pushing some of the dough on the sides down toward the center of the pan, If this seems confusing - see the pictures.
Shape the remaining piece of dough into a round large enough to cover the exposed part of the pan and go over the dough by a couple of inches. i shaped the dough between my hands and then placed it on a lightly floured surface and pushed it out from the center.
Moisten the existing dough on the bottom of the tart pan. Place the round over it and press the dough up to the edge of the pan. Make the bottom as even as you can. Freeze for about 10 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Spray a large piece of foil with a non-stick-baking release. Line the pastry shell with the foil, sprayed side down on top of the pastry. Make sure it fits into the corners well. Pour weights up to the rim of the shell.
Bake for 25 minutes on the middle rack of the oven. Remove from the oven and carefully remove the weights by bringing the four corners of the foil together in the middle and lifting them out.
Immediately place the tart shell back in the oven on the bottom rack for about 5 minutes more until the crust is set. It does not have to be browned as long as it is firm. If the crust separates at any point, use the small of reserved pastry to patch the cracks after it cools.. Do not bake again.

Filling

Cut the asparagus into ½ to ¾ inch pieces. If any are woody, do not use them.
Place them in the bottom of the par-baked pastry shell. Place the tart pan on a half sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
Wipe out the processor bowl. There is no need to wash it. Combine all the filling ingredients except the parmesan in the processor bowl. Process until smooth. Taste for salt and either cayenne or pepper. Adjust if necessary.
Top the filling with the grated parmesan cheese. Place in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until it is set or just very slightly jiggly. If the top has not taken on any color, move the sheet pan to under the broiler. Broil until the parmesan browns. Watch it carefully as it can go from golden to burned quidkly.
Let it cool to warm on a cooling rack. Serve warm or room temperature with a squeeze of lemon juice over the top.
Store any leftovers in the refrigerator. Slices of the tart can be microwaved briefly to warm.

Notes

There is always an abundance of photos to guide you in the post above. If you have questions, look at the photos or read the header of the article. Many of them will be answered there.

As always, I recommend using a scale for accuracy and consistency. Flour, in particular, is difficult to measure by volume. For my recipes, I use 140 grams per cup of unsifted all-purpose, bread or whole wheat flour and 125 grams of cake flour. Others may use different weights so use whatever they suggest.

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Trim any woody stems from the bottom of the asparagus before roasting.

The cream cheese crust requires no liquid and is especially easy to work with.

Be sure to spray foil and place the sprayed side on top of the crust before filling it with weights. Make sure the weights come to the top of the pan and into to corners. Parchment can tear when lifting the weights from the crust.

There is no need to wash the processor between making the crust and making the filling. Just wipe it out.

Nutrition