This Asparagus Tart with Pesto and Goat Cheese is great for lunch, savory snack, or as an appetizer. Delicious both hot and cold! Ready in 40 mins.
Why you'll love this asparagus leek tart
I really enjoy baking with puff pastry and although most of my recipes are gluten-free, I make an exception here. It's just too good to skip!
The goat cheese and pesto go so well with the fresh asparagus and leek. It's the perfect spring or summer lunch or snack.
It's easy to store and it's delicious hot or cold. I like to make it for days when I know I'll be busy so I can just grab it and go.
Why this recipe works
This recipe is pretty foolproof, you just mix the goat cheese with the pesto, and garlic and spread it on the puff pastry. Then you add your leek and asparagus, a light (or heavy, no one's judging here) sprinkle of pecorino cheese and you're done!
Make it extra special: I love sprinkling the edges with my Everything Bagel Seasoning for extra flavor and saltiness. It's so good, you NEED to try it!
How to make it
Like I mentioned above, it's just a matter of rolling out your puff pastry dough and layering all your toppings. It's basically a pizza but made with puff pastry which makes this a breakfast pizza in my eyes and I'm here for it.
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You could stop here but I highly recommend brushing the crust with egg wash for extra shine and sprinkling it with everything bagel seasoning or just sesame seeds if you have some on hand!
The cherry on top is the pecorino cheese. I prefer it over parmesan for it's stronger saltier flavor but you can also use parmesan or nutritional yeast if you're making this tart vegan.
Why did my puff pastry not rise?
There could be several reasons why your puff pastry fell flat and isn't as light and puffy.
I talked about these reasons in my Spinach and Feta Triangles post but it applies to this recipe too, though it's not as serious if your puff pastry stays flat.
- The dough isn't cold enough - I use store-bought frozen puff pastry dough and move it from the freezer into the fridge the night before to defrost. Don't pull it out of the fridge till you're ready to use it. But also make sure it's fully defrosted, you don't want it to break.
- You rolled it out too much - if you roll the dough out too flat, you compress all the layers together and it won't puff up. You're looking for about 0.3-0.5cm thickness. Mine was already rolled out into a sheet so I didn't roll it out at all.
- Over handling - When you shape it too many times, make too many cuts with a knife that's not sharp enough, you mess up the layers and compress them together at the edge of the dough.
- Your oven isn't hot enough - Your oven should be preheated to at least 400°F (200°C). If it's not hot enough the puff pastry won't rise. Wait at least 10 minutes after the oven is preheated to make sure the temperature is even. In this recipe the temperature is 425°F.
Asparagus Tart FAQ:
Yes! You can use vegan cheese that's similar to soft goat cheese and this vegan pesto. Sprinkle on some nutritional yeast instead of the pecorino and make sure your puff pastry is vegan too.
You can use 1 yellow onion or 4-5 spring onions (white part only) in place of the leek. Sauté them as you would the leek.
No! Blind baking puff pastry means baking it first without the toppings so it puffs up and then adding the toppings and baking again. It's an unnecessary extra step. If your puff pastry is good, it won't make a difference.
You can store it for up to 3 days in the fridge in an airtight container. I highly recommend cutting up some parchment paper and placing it in between the layers of the tart so it doesn't stick together.
📖 Recipe
Asparagus Leek Tart with Pesto
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 8 squares 1x
- Category: Baking
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This Asparagus Tart with Pesto and Goat Cheese is great for lunch, savory snack, or as an appetizer. Delicious both hot and cold! Ready in 40 mins.
Ingredients
- 1 leek (white and light green part only), cut into thin half-moons (makes about 2 ¼ cups)
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 100g (½ cup) soft goat cheese
- 5 tbsp pesto
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 sheet puff pastry
- 20 stalks asparagus, tough ends snapped off*
- 3-4 tablespoon shredded pecorino cheese (or parmesan, optional)
- black pepper to taste
- 1 egg
- 2-3 tablespoon everything bagel seasoning (or sesame seeds, optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C). Line a baking sheet with baking paper.
- Start by cooking the leek. Heat a large pan over medium-high heat, add the avocado oil, chopped leek, and sea salt. Stir and cook for 10 minutes stirring frequently until translucent. Turn the heat down a little if necessary to prevent burning.
- Take off heat and let cool down for 10 mins before assembling the tart.
- In a bowl, mix together the soft goat cheese, pesto, and minced garlic and set aside.
- To assemble, unroll your puff pastry sheet onto the prepared baking sheet with baking paper. Trim the edges with a sharp knife to make them straight if necessary.
- Score a border 1 cm from the edge around the whole sheet.
- Gently spread all the goat cheese pesto mixture on the puff pastry inside the border.
- Evenly spread all the cooked leek on the pesto mixture and top with asparagus stalks, making sure they fit into the border. (Tops and bottoms should be along the long side. Switch ways the asparagus is pointing so there’s an even number of tops and bottoms of the stalks on each side of the pastry.)
- Sprinkle with pecorino cheese if desired and season with freshly cracked black pepper to taste.
- To make an egg wash whisk the egg in a small cup with a fork. Brush the edges of the pastry with the egg wash using a pastry brush.
- Sprinkle the edges with everything bagel seasoning or sesame seeds if desired.
- Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.
- Let cool down for 10-15 minutes before slicing.
- Slice into 8 squares and enjoy hot or cold. See notes for storing.
Notes
To snap off the tough end of an asparagus stalk, hold each end in one hand and snap it, it will break off where the dry tough part ends and fresh asparagus begins!
Storing: Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Add parchment paper between each layer of tart to avoid them sticking together.
The nutritional information is just an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information is not guaranteed.
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Stephanie Honikel says
Uhm, never a good idea to read through such an amazing blog post right before dinner time. I'm literally drooling, ha! I'm so going to try this! Thank you for sharing ;)
Nina says
I have all of these ingredients in my fridge right now! I am totally going to try this recipe this week, it looks so easy to make!
Christie says
You had me at Goat Cheese! Say no more, I'm in!!!
Tiffany Crenshaw says
I've never seen a recipe like this! And I've admittedly never cooked with leeks! This is a great new spring and summer time recipe to try!