Joy the Baker

Asparagus and Gruyere Tarts

by 127 Comments

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Things I Like Because of Other Things I Like:

I like black and white striped shirts because they are the perfect compliment to bright pink lipstick.

I like super short fingernails because they are just begging to be topped with bold red nail polish.

I like deep navy blue because it makes me crave the burn of spicy grained mustard.

I like dusty blue hair because it makes beauty feel lighthearted and unexpected.

I like baking with asparagus because it reminds me of nature’s beautifully green and imperfect lines.

It feels like every bit of life can inspire another bit of life.  There’s something endlessly exciting about that… like everything belongs.  The best place to be inspired by belonging?  Pinterest.  Are you obsessed yet?  It’s the spot for food, color, and inspired living.

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Let’s make super simple, mini asparagus tarts.

It’s simple, satisfying, and smothered in balsamic reduction.

… and it all begins with puff pastry.

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Six squares, finger pressed and scored with a pairing knife.

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We’ll use bright green, trimmed raw asparagus for the tarts.

An egg is glue.

Gruyere cheese is salty, melty second glue.

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One of the best parts of this recipe is that it’s just assembly.

Let’s just layer.

Egg on top of pastry.

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Asparagus on top of cheese.

The asparagus needed a good trimming.

I used the trimmings in scrambled eggs the next morning.  Waste not!

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In twenty minutes these bake up like super pastry, asparagus cheese pizzas.

I love an extra sprinkling of salt… because I’m salt greedy.

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This is not a styled photograph.  This is me trying to shove this tart into my mouth as quickly as possible.  It’s a good thing this one shot came out spot on.  The tart was gone in two seconds flat.

This recipe makes 6 lovely little tarts.  You can, however, make one big tart, using one sheet of puff pastry.  Either way you prepare this, this recipe is simple, springy, and humbly impressive.  It’s really the ingredients that shine:  all-butter puff pastry, seasonal asparagus, gruyere cheese, coarse sea salt, and ooooh balsamic reduction.

Asparagus and Gruyere Tarts

makes 6 small tarts

recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

Print this Recipe!

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed but still cold.

1 egg, beaten

1 1/2 cups finely grated gruyere cheese

1 pound slender asparagus

salt and coarse ground black pepper

olive oil

balsamic reduction

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Unfold thawed puff pastry onto a lightly floured work surface.  Most commercially made puff pastry sheets are sold folded into thirds.  Unfold the pastry and slice into thirds at the creases.  Cut each strip in half, creating six equally sized rectangles.

Gently press each rectangle with your fingers, flattening slightly.  With a small pairing knife, score a 1/4 inch boarder along the inside of each rectangle.  Arrange 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet.

Brush each square lightly with beaten egg. Sprinkle with salt and coarse ground black pepper.  Top with a generous sprinkling of grated cheese.  Press five to six asparagus spears into the cheese. Brush the asparagus with olive oil and sprinkle with more coarsely ground black pepper.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until puff pastry is golden brown and asparagus is cooked through.  Remove from the oven, allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.  Serve with thick balsamic reduction.    Tarts can be stored, well wrapped in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.  

Reader Interactions

Comments

  4. Cindy

    Yum yum yum!!!!! I just made these and they are fantastic! I really love your blog. It’s revitalized my desire to try new things and for that I am eternally grateful!

    Reply

  5. Alison

    Made these last night with a friend. Delicious! However, they didn’t look quite as pretty as yours! :) But we were quite pleased with the results.

    Thanks for the great recipe!

    Reply

  10. Kat

    Well, this disappeared quickly. Unfortunately the puff pastry I found up here in Toronto requires actually *getting out the rolling pin*, so mine were not equal rectangles, but I like to think of them as diverse and special in their own right.

    Reply

  15. Kim

    Tried these last night and they were just great. And so easy to put together too. Even my 8 year old gobbled them up although she pulled all the asparagus off first, ate the cheese covered pastry then ate the veggies. Smart kid. Thanks for sharing a great recipe. I read your blog all the time but this was the first I tried. Will have to try more!

    Reply

  17. nancy

    Made these for dinner tonight – with some leftover for lunch tomorrow. Simple to prepare, quick to cook, delicious to eat. I had some new aged balsamic that added just the right amount of bite to balance out the richness of the cheese and puff pastry. Would have posted a pic on Pinterest, but the dinner tarts fell up into my mouth too quickly. Maybe tomorrow. :-) Thanks for a great version of these!

    Reply

  20. Erin

    I made this a while back from a Martha Stewart cookbook I have and it’s really yum. But this cheese is seriously salty. I do not find that any extra salt is necessary. I love how you made them mini! Adorable! :-)

    Reply

  23. laura k

    This is totally one of my favorite easy dinners, with a big ol’ green salad on the side. Its elegance totally belies how freaking simple it is to make. My favorite kind of dinner.

    I’ve never thought of a balsamic reduction on top, though. It has to happen.

    Reply

  26. Anna Kristianne

    Dear Joy,

    I have been a fan of your blog for over a year now, and you never cease to amaze me with your creativity!

    I lovvvvve your recipes and ideas!

    I’m going to try this out and let you know how it goes =)!

    Hope your week is going to be wonderful!

    Blessings,

    Anna

    Reply

  27. Kare

    I never get tired of how pretty asparagus tarts are. The stalks look like little soldiers lined up in an orderly little row. Yum!

    Reply

  32. Amielle

    Thank goodness I’m home and my mother is willing to sport some of my cooking bill. Because this is next. As in: it will be for a meal sometime this week and nobody will be able to stop me.

    Reply

  34. Eileen

    Yes, yes! These look perfect–easy and amazing. They’re also an excellent argument for having frozen puff pastry on hand at all times. :)

    Reply

  35. Natalie M.

    I’m obsessed with Pinterest. It’s bad and only makes me even more of a procrastinator but sooo good! these tarts look dank though, gonna bake em up soon!

    Reply

  37. nancy

    These look delicious, indeed! And – by lucky happenstance – they contain most of the ingredients I have left over from making my mum an asparagus and gruyere bread pudding for Mother’s day…and (more luck) there’s some puff pastry in the freezer. Thanks, Joy, for supplying a great inspirational recipe for this week’s lunches! :_)

    Reply

  38. Katie

    I would definitely make this as 6 small tarts. How perfect to serve at a lunch with a nice salad. I’m so glad it’s asparagus season right now!

    Reply

  43. Christina

    I have a tip for asparagus “trimming.” Instead of cutting the ends off, SNAP it off where it will naturally break with your hands. This methods ensures you got rid of the tough part. I’ve made this tart a couple of times for Easter: once after three or four sun dazzlers. It came out better the other time. Enjoy, Joy!

    Reply

  46. Honey

    This looks so delicious, I love asparagus particularly lightly grilled in a warm salad but this looks like another fabulous thing to do with it!

    Reply

  47. Janis

    So simple yet soo super tasty looking. I find that with most things, the simplest is normally the best. I shall be making this later.

    Reply

  52. Lucia

    Things I like because of other things I like:
    skirts and dresses because you can dance even if you’re not dancing;
    the rain because it makes the world smell good;
    Joy the Baker because the day shines when I read her ;-)

    Reply

  53. Ann P.

    And I like asparagus because it reminds me of spring.
    I like asparagus tarts because they remind me of parties with friends!

    great recipe, pile on the gruyere, YEAH!

    Reply

  54. Meghan

    Joy I feel like you’ve gotten all grown woman on us. The classy new design, asparagus with balsamic reduction, and shooting a photo while/before eating. I like this New Joy. I like her a lot.

    ps. what brand of puff pastry do you use? I find the pepperidge farm really lacking and yours looks beautiful.

    Reply

  56. fatpiginthemarket

    I’m with you on the deep navy and mustard. I want to eat it and wear it or maybe I want to wear the navy and eat the mustard. Both but I don’t know how to make that sound non-weird. Bright, short nails rock and I’m not just saying that because I have no other option since I work with my capable but far from elegant hands. Gruyere, butter and asparagus plus puff pastry totally rocks! Summer party food.

    Reply

  59. Julia {The Roasted Root}

    I love coffee because it is a gateway for frothy milk. Annnnd, I love asparagus because it makes a beautiful delicious looking asparagus and Gruyere tart! I’ve never used puff pastry. I MUST use puff pastry! Hope you had fun this weekend!

    Reply

  61. Lindsay @ The Live-In Kitchen

    Such a beautiful dish. I have so many photos of food with bites taken out of them because I just can’t seem to take a picture before I take a bite. I have not yet been able to find all butter puff pastry in my grocery store, just the hydrogenated oil junk (yuck). Hopefully they will get with it soon!

    Reply

  62. Sara

    My favorite no-waste: buy a great loaf of bread, remove crusts and then cube. Use the crustless cubes for bread pudding and make croutons out of the leftover crusts!

    Reply

  63. Jenna

    Looks amazing. And perfect for a brunch.
    Speaking of brunch, I used one of your recipes for the Mother’s Day Brunch I hosted yesterday: Easy Cinnamon Roll Muffins. They were a hit! So delicious. I will definitely make them again. :)

    Reply

  64. My Kids Mom

    For a lovely presentation you could keep the pastry whole and put the asparagus on with blocks alternating vertical and horizontal, showing where it would get cut later.

    Reply

  66. Todd

    so great. this is a much better and classier version of an appetizer we tried to make a few years ago where you wrapped croissant dough around an asparagus. I love the simplicity and the format that makes this easy to eat, and I’m sure the cheese is a great complement to the green.
    Thanks!

    Reply

  67. thelittleloaf

    These look beautifully simple! I made apple tarts with puff pastry this weekend and was blown away by how delicious just two or three ingredients on puff pastry can be. This looks like the perfect savoury treat – love.

    Reply

  68. Meg H.

    Love asparagus and had it roasted for my mother’s day dinner – parmesan cheese though. Will try gruyere next – love that nutty taste. And enjoyed your crumb cake french toast for my brunch. Love, love, love that dish. So easy my 9 year-old made it for me!

    Reply

  72. Gigi

    The tarts look delicious!! Can’t wait to try out the recipe soon! I made the Leek and Asparagus quiche yesterday! Hmmm, so good. Leftover slice for breakfast thus morning. Yeah! :-)

    Reply

  73. Erica

    It just so happens I have all of these ingredients on hand. This shall become dinner tonight…paired with a glass, or two, of crisp white wine! yes, Yes, YES! Thanks, Joy!

    Reply

  75. Bea

    1) Totally didn’t notice your new layout until now. Fresh!
    2) Also totally fresh tart idea. Looks yummy. I’ve always wondered how you can take pictures of your food without eating it first. Now I know better ;)

    Reply

  77. Sophie

    amazing! i did something similar with mozzarella, pesto and asparagus a few weeks ago…puff pastry is awesome. It makes me sad that good asparagus is only available 8 weeks of the year.

    Reply

  79. Averie @ Averie Cooks

    love the recipe idea…anything with asparagus AND gruyere..destined to be great.

    And Pinterest…super addicted and in love. It gives me the feeling of the internet being brand new, all over again. So much to see and discover. Love it!

    Reply

  81. Margarita

    I like black and white stripes too and I love roasting asparagus. I have never tried it with puff pastry and cheese yet, but you have convinced me! Also, I love the fact that you used up the asparagus trimmings in eggs! I always feel proud of myself when I get to use everything and waste nothing.

    Reply

  86. Renee

    hi! this tart looks delicious! just gotta be annoying and give you a heads up on a typo.. “striped” shirt :)

    Reply

Trackbacks

  5. […] For the big dinner, we usually order a Honeybaked ham. But you’ll need some side dishes — maybe ambrosia salad or fruit salad with mint sugar for something fruity, either fancy mac & cheese, or regular (but still incredibly delicious) mac & cheese, and then, because I guess you need some vegetables, mayo-less potato salad and asparagus and gruyere tarts. […]

    Reply

  8. […] For the big dinner, we usually order a Honeybaked ham. But you’ll need some side dishes — maybe ambrosia salad or fruit salad with mint sugar for something fruity, either fancy mac & cheese, or regular (but still incredibly delicious) mac & cheese, and then, because I guess you need some vegetables, mayo-less potato salad and asparagus and gruyere tarts. […]

    Reply

  9. […] Asparagus and Gruyere tart – well, if it’s ain’t pasta then it’s probably pastry. Joy the Baker – queen of my foodie heart and inspiration for all things laid back hipster – has a stonkingly good recipe that I first test drived this time last year. Undoubtedly, this will be making an appearance in 2014 too. […]

    Reply

  29. […] Asparagus and Gruyere Tarts from Joy the Baker. This looks like one of those little effort, big payoff recipes which, if you served it to guests, might make them think you are super-amazing and love them very much. I love Joy’s post, too. That lady makes me smile. […]

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