Asparagus and Leek Tart

Remember how I mentioned that we had a delicious brunch a few weeks ago on Mother’s Day? I just realized that I never actually went into detail about what I contributed to that amazing spread. When I spoke with my Uncle earlier in the week, he asked that I bring something savory like a Strata. After an extensive search, I couldn’t seem to find a Strata recipe that really moved me. I’ll bet all of the ones I looked at were delicious, but I just wasn’t feeling any of them.

Fast forward to Saturday when J and I took A to the Public Market, I kept my eyes open for some veggies that inspired me. Sure enough, I came across the prettiest little leeks, and nice, skinny asparagus stalks. Being that I have a penchant for all things involving puff pastry and brunch (you might remember this from my insanely delicious Puff Pastry Breakfast Pizza recipe) I figured a savory tart would be a simple and delicious option.

Whenever I make quiche or macaroni and cheese, Gruyere is one of my go-to cheeses. My local grocery store offers freshly grated Gruyere, so it’s extra convenient and when I began plotting this recipe I knew that the flavor would beautifully accent the leeks and asparagus. Since I already had lemon thyme and parsley growing in my garden, they were a really awesome last minute addition to the filling, and I’m really happy with my decision to add them.

Seriously though, the combination of the veggies with the gruyere and those amazing fresh herbs led to the most savory, delicious tarts I’ve ever made! And it was super easy to boot thanks to my trusty frozen puff pastry sheets. I want to make this again and again which all sorts of ingredient variations. I actually did make another variation of this that day, but the recipe isn’t quite where I want it to be, so I’ll need to tweak that a bit more before I’m willing to share it. But once I get it right, I’ll be sure to post!

Asparagus and Leek Tart

Source: The Life Jolie

Ingredients:

• 4 small leeks (or 2 large leeks), the white and light green parts only, sliced and rinsed
• 1 Tbsp of butter
• 1 Tbsp of olive oil
• 1 bunch of asparagus, trimmed and cut into smaller pieces (I did a couple inches).
• 1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed
• 1/3 cup of milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of grated Gruyere cheese
• 1 heaping tsp. of fresh lemon thyme, chopped (regular thyme will work just fine if you don’t have access to lemon thyme)
• 1 tsp of fresh parsley, chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with foil and grease with cooking spray. Set aside for later.

Begin melting your butter and olive oil together in a saute pan over medium heat. Add your leeks and season to taste with salt and pepper. Saute for 10 minutes and then remove from heat and keep them on the side for later. While these are cooking, blanch your asparagus for two minutes in boiling water and then put it immediately into an ice bath to stop the cooking. Set aside for later.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out your puff pastry dough into a rectangle and transfer to your prepared cookie sheet. Using a fork, score around the edges of the dough to create a “crust” and then pierce the dough randomly all over the center so that it doesn’t puff up as much in the middle. Make sure you don’t cut all the way through!

Bake for 10 minutes While this is baking mix whisk together your eggs and milk in a mixing bowl until well combined. Add the cheese, lemon thyme, parsley and slat and pepper to taste and mix to combine.

Once the 10 minutes is up, remove the puff pastry from the oven and reduce the heat to 400 degrees. Using a fork, push the air out of the center of the dough so that it flattens a bit in the center (leaving the crust around the edges high).

Scatter your asparagus and leeks all over the dough and pour your egg and cheese mixture over the veggies. Bake for another 20-25 minutes or until set.

Serve once it’s cooled.

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