07 October 2009

Crispy Asparagus & Potato Tart



Up at the crack of dawn catching a flight back home, at work all day and then finally home to make some warm comfort food on a cold, wet spring evening in Sydney.

It would have been so easy after a long weekend away to simply come home and get some take-away but there is no joy in that and after not being in my kitchen or having touched food in days, I had this craving for this dish which my friend made for me a few weeks back. It's original is based on a Jamie Oliver recipe although being the way I am I slightly tweeked the recipe and it tasted as good as it looks.


Ingredients

1 small spanish onion chopped finely
1 clove of garlic
500g potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
500g asparagus spears (I used both white & green), woody ends removed
200g filo pastry (5 sheets with butter layered between each sheet)
30g butter, melted
100g freshly grated Vintage cheddar cheese
100g freshly grated Cheddar cheese
3 large free-range eggs
200 ml double cream
85ml of quark (I substituted some of the cream for quark which worked really well)

Put your potatoes into a pan of salted boiling water and cook for 15 minutes. Meanwhile blanch your asparagus in a separate pan of salted boiling water for 4 minutes, and drain in a colander.

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Take an ovenproof dish and place layers of filo pastry in the dish, brushing them with melted butter as you go and letting about 2.5cm hang over the edge. Use 5 sheets of pastry.

In a frying pan add the onion & garlic and fry in some butter cooking them nice and slowly in order to caramelize the onions.

When the potatoes are cooked, mash them with the cheeses and add the onion & garlic mix to this. In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs and cream/quark and stir in your cheesy mashed potato. Season well with salt & pepper and mix together. Spread the mashed potato over the filo pastry, then bring up the sides of the filo and scrunch them together to form a rim. You now can assemble the tart with the asparagus - I alternated white then green asparagus. I had some fresh marjoram in the fridge so I tore a few leaves and sprinkled them on top.

Bake for around 20 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving. I served it with a very simple spring leaf salad.




1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Lovely Miss Heidi :)

Looks almost as good as mine a fouple of weeks ago...he he he

K