Asparagus is an industrious little vegetable. Its spears can grow up to 10″ over the course of a 24 hour period, shooting above the soil ready for harvest like so. It’s also one of the more unique vegetables to cross my cutting board, as it’s not a leaf, flower bud, or root system, but the stem of the plant itself. Asparagus’ flavor is unique as well and in my experience, it is best served as the star of a side dish…or wrapped in bacon.

I normally just roast the spears with a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper, but after finding a sheet of leftover puff pastry in my freezer this evening I decided to make a simple tart with mushrooms and gruyere.

Because so much of the ingredient amounts are based on the size of your puff pastry, I’m just going to list the ingredients and leave the rest to you. I prepared the tart using a single pastry sheet and it was enough for four servings.

Asparagus and Mushroom Tart
-Asparagus, washed and trimmed
-1 portobello mushroom, sliced 1/4 thick
-Puff pastry
-Gruyere cheese, finely grated
-Olive oil
-Cream or half & half (optional)
-Salt and pepper to taste

1) Pre-heat the oven to 400°

2) Place the puff pastry on a lightly-oiled baking sheet. Fold each side over by 1/4″ and use your finger and a bit of warm water to keep the fold in place.

3) Brush the pastry with olive oil, then drizzle on a few lines of cream or half & half if desired.

4) Arrange the asparagus and sliced mushrooms on the center of the tart and sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Top with the grated cheese.

5) Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Allow to cool for 5 minutes and serve.

On the rare occasion I’m dining out and not in the mood for a chocolate dessert, a fruit tart is always my choice. They’re delicate, refreshing, and give a false sense of being much healthier than a slice of chocolate cake. Fruit tarts are also one of the most beautiful desserts out there, full of rich colors and carefully laid patterns. 

After enjoying Angela’s apple tart on New Year’s Eve, I decided to try making a tart of my own with Mark Bittman and Epicurious as my guide.

Before I launch into the recipe links, I want to share two lessons I learned during the tart making process. The first is that although tart crust is slightly easier to make than pie crust, do not let your guard down. I forgot to prick the crust with a fork and let it warm too much before baking, leading to a crust disaster during my first run. The second lesson is really more of warning: mentally prepare yourself for the amount of fat and calories present in pastry cream, the filling of choice in tarts, cream puffs, and all manner of other pastry desserts. I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me before, but as I was pouring cups of cream into a saucepan, it became very apparent. 

Sweet Tart Crust
from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything and his NYT blog
Click here for recipe then follow steps below

5. Prick the crust with a fork in a number of spots to ensure the crust keeps its shape.

6. Butter one side of a piece of foil large enough to cover the crust; press the foil onto the crust, butter side down. Weight the foil with a pile of dried beans of rice (they can be reused for the same purpose) or pie weights. Bake for 12 minutes at 425º; remove from the overn and remove the weights and foil. Reuce the oven temperature to 350º and continue baking until the crust is completely golden brown, another 10-15 minutes.

Here’s my tart crust complete with foil and ceramic pie weights:

While the tart crust is cooling, you can make the pastry cream.

Vanilla Pastry Cream
Recipe from Epicurious. Click here to view.  

Assembling the tart
-3 medium peaches (you may only need 2, depending on slice thickness)
-2 apricots
-3 tbs. fruit preserves of your choice 
-1 tbs. water 

1. Slice the peaches and apricots lengthwise with a thickness of about 1/4 of an inch, depending on your preference. 

2. Once the crust is completely cooled and the pastry cream is at room temperature, it’s time to put them together. Remove the crust from the pan and place on your serving platter (if you’re using one). Use a rubber spatula to spread the cream onto the crust, creating a layer that reaches 3/4 up the side of the crust.

3. Next, begin placing the peaches around the outer edge of the tart, moving inward circle by circle. When you have about 2 inches left in the middle, begin creating circles of apricot slices in the same fashion. When complete, it should look similar to this:
 

4. Next, place the fruit preserves and water in a mug or small microwave safe bowl. Heat in the microwave for 40 seconds and then strain the mixture to get out any seeds or large chunks. Use a pastry brush to apply it to the top of the tart. 

5. Give the glaze a fifteen minutes to cool and set, then serve. 

Full disclosure: my fine mesh strainer was in the sink, so I was lazy and did not strain my glaze for the tart pictured below. Those are raspberry seeds.