Celebrate delicious asparagus this Asparagus Day on 23rd April!
Asparagus is a spring favourite and it is a good source of Vitamin C and Iron, good news, because Vitamin C helps your body to absorb Iron! The perfect tag team! If you don’t eat a lot of asparagus, how about giving this delicious tart recipe a try and boost your Iron intake!
ASPARAGUS TART
Ingredients:
1 sheet of ready roll puff pastry
100g pancetta, cut into tiny cubes
1 tablespoon butter
450g asparagus, woody ends trimmed off and sliced diagonally into 1 inch pieces
1 leek, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Zest of one lemon
1 teaspoon orange zest
100g ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsleySalt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Method:
Preheat your oven per your pastry cooking instructions.
In a large non-stick pan, sauté pancetta, stirring frequently, over medium heat, until crisp and lightly golden.
Add 1 tablespoon of butter to pan. Add asparagus pieces and leek and sauté until asparagus is tender crisp, about 3-4 minutes.
Add garlic, lemon and orange zest and ricotta and season to taste with freshly ground pepper and salt.
Unroll your readymade pastry onto a baking sheet and with a sharp knife, gently score the pastry one inch inside the edges being careful not to cut all the way through the pastry.
Prick the inside rectangle several times with a fork and brush the border area with milk to help the pastry brown.
Spread your asparagus mixture onto the pastry sheet, keeping inside your scored rectangle and bake the tart for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden (be careful not to burn your filling.
Once cooked, remove from the oven and sprinkle with toasted pine nuts and parsley, serve immediately.
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