Asparagus Gruyere Tart

A delicate side dish or appetizer

Ingredients:

1 sheet frozen puff pastry

2 cups grated Gruyere cheese

1 1⁄2 pounds asparagus

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

flour for your work surface

Ingredients:

1 sheet frozen puff pastry

2 cups grated Gruyere cheese

1 1⁄2 pounds asparagus

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

flour for your work surface

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Roll out the puff pastry on a floured work surface into a 16 x 10 inch rectangle. Place the pastry on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. With a knife, lightly score the pastry dough 1 inch in from the edges all the way around the rectangle. Use a fork to pierce the dough inside the markings at 1⁄2 inch intervals. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.

While the pastry is baking, grate the cheese and measure out two cups. You can also wash the tops of the asparagus by dipping and swishing them in a pot of water to release any sand they picked up when they poked their heads out of the ground. When they are clean, snap off their ends at the point where they bend to remove the part of the stem that may be tough.

When the pastry comes out of the oven, sprinkle the cheese over it, and arrange the asparagus spears across it in as neat a row as possible. Alternate which way the ends and tips face to make it look more visually interesting.

Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake until the spears are tender and pastry is beginning to brown, about 20 – 25 minutes.

Adapted from Martha Stewart