Dressed to impress, this recipe is dead simple to execute. Make it once and you'll never need to look at the recipe again. Go to your market and buy local, in-season asparagus and you can give yourself a smack on the back for being such a conscientious at-home chef. 

You will need:
  • 10 stalks of white or green asparagus
  • 1 package puff pastry
  • 200 ml creme fraiche + 1 tsp Dijon mustard, and 1/2 tsp kosher salt and pepper, mixed together
  • 1 1/2 cups grated Gruyere or other Swiss cheese
  • Olive oil for drizzling
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. 
Prepare your asparagus. Lop the woody inch off of the bottom of each spear. If using white asparagus, be sure to peel the entire stalk. I cut the asparagus in half lengthwise, and then set aside.
Roll out your pastry and with a sharp knife, score the pastry about an inch away from the edge, around the periphery of the pastry. Be careful not to cut through. Bake for 10-15 minutes until just golden and remove from the oven. Bash the middle down with a spoon, until all the puffiness is gone. 
Your scoring made a magical crust. Go you! Now bash the hell out the middle, leave the crust alone.
Spread your creme fraiche mixture over the bashed down surface, add your cheese and then arrange your asparagus along the width, alternating the direction of each spear if you're fancy. Drizzle olive oil over the top. Return to the oven and bake for another 20 minutes, or until you're worried the crust is about to burn. With a large knife, cut the tart into squares and serve with a crisp white wine. Enjoy!
Katie
6/6/2012 10:28:17 am

It's even better when you're eating it in Paris!

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Tara
6/6/2012 03:49:49 pm

Agreed! Let's go back.

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Paula
7/6/2012 08:38:20 pm

Yes it is! thanks for posting this Tara - I'm making it Sunday for book club!

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Kate
7/6/2012 09:54:41 pm

Do y'all have purple asparagus in NS? It would look great on the tart.

Tara
10/6/2012 05:21:17 am

How did it turn out?

Paula Rennie
12/6/2012 06:10:55 am

Tara, it was delicious! Everyone oohed and ahhed, saying how nice it looked. I have a clay bake sheet and used parchment paper so it was really evenly cooked and golden! The bastards (sorry, fellow book club members) ate the whole frickin' thing and there were no leftovers. In my wisdom, however, I made double the required amount of creme fraîche and have some extra pastry in the freezer, so we'll be having more this weekend.
P.

Chris
7/6/2012 06:20:31 am

and it's not too bad when you're eating in Germany either :P - thank you Tara!

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Sarah..
7/6/2012 11:49:25 pm

All cought up on your Blog. looks like i missed a lot in a week. That Tart looks yummy. Wish you were still here cooking for me :)
Lots of little adventures going on and Claudia can not have Chocolate for a while.. EEK !

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Tara
10/6/2012 05:22:00 am

I will make it for you in September! Then you can have asparagus scented breast milk!

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sarah
10/6/2012 10:44:33 pm

Eww that just seems wong .. but i like asparagus and cheese :)

Do you know when you will be coming here yet ?

Kim Chacinski
8/6/2012 07:37:28 am

Kate has been raving about how good the asparagus dish that you made was when she was there so I was happy to see that you've posted the recipe. I love asparagus and I love cheese.

Kim

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Tara
10/6/2012 05:20:52 am

I think you might just love it!

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Donna
13/6/2012 10:17:38 am

It is very good with roasted cherry tomotoes since you have the oven on already. Toss the tomatoes with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and roast in a separate pan. Yummy!

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Tara
24/6/2012 02:07:49 am

That sounds yummy! Did you make it at home?

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