Asparagus Torte: This is quite elegant, and if made with care will do well at a festive meal when company's invited. It calls for pasta sfoglia, puff pastry, and has you start from scratch. Should you want to save time, you can use commercially prepared puff pastry, thawing it id need be (in Italy it's also sold fresh). Starting from scratch, to serve 4-6 you'll need:
Prep Time: 80 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
- ** For the Crust **
- 3 1/2 cups (350 g) flour
- 1 1/4 cups (250 g) unsalted butter
- Salt
- Butter and flour for the baking dish
- ** For the Filling **
- 2 pounds (800 g) asparagus spears
- 1/3 cup fresh cream
- 2 ounces (50 g) finely sliced cooked ham
- An egg
- A shallot, minced
- A sprig of fresh thyme, minced
- Unsalted butter
- Salt & Pepper to taste.
Preparation:
Begin by making the dough: make a mound of the flour on your work surface, scoop a well into it, cut the butter into the depression, and then work it into a dough, adding about 2/3 cup (170 g, yes, they give liquids by weight here -- 170 ml). Move quickly, lest the butter melt, and roll the dough out three times, folding it over in thirds each time to reform the loaf. Fold it up after the third rolling, cover it, and put it in the refrigerator for about 40 minutes.
In the meantime, scrape the bottoms of the asparagus spears if they need it, trim away the woody white bases of the spears, cut the green parts into strips lengthwise, and sauté them in a skillet with a chunk of unsalted butter, the shallot and thyme, salt and pepper to taste, and a little water; remove them from the flames when they're still somewhat firm.
Preheat your oven to 400 F (200 C).
Roll out the dough to about 3/16-inch thickness (3 mm), and use it to line a 9-inch (22 cm) pan you've lined with oven paper (if the pan has a decorative wavy border the result will be prettier). Fill the tart with a layer of asparagus, then the ham, and then more asparagus. Bend the upper lip of the dough down over the asparagus, and cut the remaining dough into decorative shapes, for example leaves, and affix them to the rim of the torte.
Lightly whip the egg and cream, season the mixture to taste with salt and pepper, and pour it over the asparagus.
Bake the torte for about 25 minutes, let it cool, and serve it warm. A wine? White, and I'f be tempted by a Greco di Tufo.
In the meantime, scrape the bottoms of the asparagus spears if they need it, trim away the woody white bases of the spears, cut the green parts into strips lengthwise, and sauté them in a skillet with a chunk of unsalted butter, the shallot and thyme, salt and pepper to taste, and a little water; remove them from the flames when they're still somewhat firm.
Preheat your oven to 400 F (200 C).
Roll out the dough to about 3/16-inch thickness (3 mm), and use it to line a 9-inch (22 cm) pan you've lined with oven paper (if the pan has a decorative wavy border the result will be prettier). Fill the tart with a layer of asparagus, then the ham, and then more asparagus. Bend the upper lip of the dough down over the asparagus, and cut the remaining dough into decorative shapes, for example leaves, and affix them to the rim of the torte.
Lightly whip the egg and cream, season the mixture to taste with salt and pepper, and pour it over the asparagus.
Bake the torte for about 25 minutes, let it cool, and serve it warm. A wine? White, and I'f be tempted by a Greco di Tufo.
