Asparagus, Goat Cheese and Tarragon Tart

Name: Asparagus, Goat Cheese and Tarragon Tart
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Cuisine: french
Ingredients: 1 cup soft goat cheese, at room temperature (4 ounces); 1 large egg, lightly beaten, at room temperature; 1 large garlic clove, finely grated or minced; 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon leaves, plus more for serving; 1/2 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest; 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more for sprinkling; Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg; 1 cup crème fraîche, at room temperature (8 ounces); All-purpose flour, for dusting the work surface; 1 sheet or square all-butter puff pastry, thawed if frozen (about 9 to 14 ounces; brands vary); 8 ounces thin asparagus, woody ends trimmed; Extra-virgin olive oil; 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan; Freshly ground black pepper; Red-pepper flakes (optional); 1 1/2 ounces Parmesan, shaved with a vegetable peeler (about 1/2 cup)

By Melissa Clark

Updated July 13, 2021

Asparagus, Goat Cheese and Tarragon Tart — Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Total Time: 1 hour
Rating: 5(6,325)
Comments: Read comments

Because you don’t have to make your own crust, this gorgeous asparagus-striped tart is so easy it almost feels like cheating. But it’s not. It’s just simple yet stunning, effortlessly chic and company-ready. As there are so few ingredients in this recipe that each one makes an impact, be sure to buy a good all-butter brand of puff pastry. If you can manage to serve this tart warm, within an hour of baking, it will be at its absolute best, with crisp pastry that shatters into buttery bits when you bite down and still-runny cheese. But it’s also excellent a few hours later, should you want to get all your baking done before your guests arrive. If tarragon isn’t your favorite herb, you can use chives, basil or mint instead. And if you can manage to trim all the asparagus to the same length, this tart will be especially neat and orderly looking.

Featured in: How I Came to Cook in French

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Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings

1cup soft goat cheese, at room temperature (4 ounces)
1large egg, lightly beaten, at room temperature
1large garlic clove, finely grated or minced
1½tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon leaves, plus more for serving
½tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
½teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1cup crème fraîche, at room temperature (8 ounces)
All-purpose flour, for dusting the work surface
1sheet or square all-butter puff pastry, thawed if frozen (about 9 to 14 ounces; brands vary)
8ounces thin asparagus, woody ends trimmed
Extra-virgin olive oil
2tablespoons grated Parmesan
Freshly ground black pepper
Red-pepper flakes (optional)
1½ounces Parmesan, shaved with a vegetable peeler (about ½ cup)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Heat oven to 425 degrees. In a medium bowl, use a fork or a wooden spoon to mash together the goat cheese, egg, garlic, tarragon, lemon zest, salt and nutmeg until smooth. Switch to a whisk and beat in the crème fraîche until smooth.
Step 2
On a lightly floured surface, roll out puff pastry into a 13-by-11-inch rectangle about ⅛-inch thick. Transfer the dough to a parchment-lined cookie sheet. With a sharp knife, lightly score a ½-inch border around the edges of the puff pastry.
Step 3
Spread the crème fraîche mixture evenly inside the scored border. Line up the asparagus spears on top, and brush them with olive oil. Sprinkle some salt and the grated Parmesan over the asparagus.
Step 4
Bake until the pastry is puffed and golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Let it cool on the cookie sheet for at least 15 minutes or up to 4 hours before serving. Then sprinkle black pepper, red-pepper flakes (if using), the shaved Parmesan and tarragon leaves. Drizzle a little oil on top.

Tip

You can assemble the tart 1 day in advance; but reserve the sprinkling of salt and grated Parmesan until right before baking. Loosely cover the tart and store it in the refrigerator until it's time to bake.

Ratings

5 out of 5

6,325 user ratings

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Comments

stephanie5 years ago

Scoring a border means take a sharp paring knife and *without cutting all of the way through the puff pastry* trace a straight line about 1" from the edges all around (like a picture frame). This way, when you put your filling in the center section to bake, this frees this frame to puff higher and create a border/rim around the tart.

balletgoer5 years ago

Is there a good substitute for goat cheese? I'm not a fan.

CFXK5 years ago

For who don't live in NYC near specialty shops and are wondering where to find all-butter puff pastry (since the big commercial brands sold at the chain supermarkets where the other 99% of us shop are made with vegetable oil), there is some good news and bad news. The good news is that Trader Joes frozen puff pastry is all butter. The bad news is that it is generally available only seasonally (i.e., around the Thanksgiving-Christmas axis).

RZ5 days ago

I want to try this using labneh, because I have an open container in my fridge. Is this too crazy? Could it work?

mark1 week ago

Do not roll out the puff pastry on a separate surface. just roll it out directly onto the parchment and pan. The method they describe ruins the pastry and you can't transfer it. Total flop

Qwill2 weeks ago

Took to gathering as an appetizer; impressed my friends. Used puff pastry from Trader Joe's, which (even after rolling) did not stretch to 13 by 11, so had some crème fraîche base left over. It was happily used up on other things (including just slathering on bread and sticking in the toaster oven for a few minutes).

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