Asparagus season in the UK runs from April through to June, although it's starting earlier and earlier with each year. Whilst you can buy asparagus almost all year round in supermarkets, it will always taste its best when bought in season.
Using just 5 ingredients, this asparagus tart would make for a perfect dinner party starter, or a light midweek meal with a salad on the side.
This tart uses jarred hollandaise sauce and ready-made puff pastry, making it super easy to knock up, only 15min!
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Yields:
6 serving(s)
Prep Time:
15 mins
Cook Time:
40 mins
Total Time:
55 mins
Cal/Serv:
323
Ingredients
flour, to dust
375g (13oz) block of all-butter puff pastry
1
large egg
200ml
(7 fl oz (⅓ pint)) jar of hollandaise sauce (we used Maille)
150g
(5oz) fine asparagus
Directions
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan) mark 6. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to measure roughly 28 x 33cm (11 x 13in). Line a baking sheet with baking parchment (allowing a little to hang over) and place the pastry on to the baking sheet. Score a 2cm (¾in) border around the rectangle, taking care not to cut right through the pastry. Prick well with a fork inside the border. Beat the egg with a little salt and brush a little over the border of the pastry. Chill pastry in the fridge for 15min.
Step 2
Bake the pastry for 15-20min until golden and pu ffed up. Remove from oven and gently press the central area down with a spoon (so that the pastry has a high border). Turn oven up to 220°C (200°C fan) mark 7.
Step 3
Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk together the hollandaise sauce with the remaining egg. Spread the hollandaise mixture over the pastry case inside the central area and place the asparagus spears in alternate directions across the pastry. Bake in the oven for 15-20min until the asparagus is roasted and the hollandaise has a golden brulée appearance.
GH Tips
We recommend Maille hollandaise in this recipe, with sharp lemon cutting through its rich, buttery flavour.
GET AHEAD
The pastry can be rolled and baked 1 day in advance. Cool and store in an airtight container. Brush border with egg and simply complete step 3 to serve.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
