Asparagus, shallot and ‘Wigmore’ Tart

This tart is delicious and a great way to celebrate asparagus. Use good quality brie if you can’t get hold of any Wigmore, or swap out for a punchy feta or mature goats cheese. Serve hot or cold with a crisp green salad and a chilled glass of white wine.

Serves: 6

Difficulty: Easy/Medium

Time: 1 hr plus 1 hr chilling time

Ingredients

For the Shortcrust Pastry

  • 90g butter, softened
  • Large pinch of salt
  • 180g plain flour, sifted
  • 2 large free-range egg yolks
  • 2 – 4 tbsp ice cold water

For the filling

  • Knob of butter
  • 1tbsp of olive oil
  • 250g bunch asparagus
  • 8 shallots
  • 4 medium free-range eggs
  • 125ml double cream
  • 125ml whole milk
  • 150g Wigmore cheese
  • Salt & pepper

Asparagus, shallot and ‘Wigmore’ Tart

This tart is delicious and a great way to celebrate asparagus. Use good quality brie if you can’t get hold of any Wigmore, or swap out for a punchy feta or mature goats cheese. Serve hot or cold with a crisp green salad and a chilled glass of white wine.

Method

For the shortcrust pastry

  1. In a bowl, cream together the butter and salt using a wooden spoon until light and just combined. Add the flour, egg yolks and the ice cold water and combine until it forms a ball of dough.
  2. Wrap the dough in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least an hour or overnight if you can. However, be sure to take out of fridge half an hour before you want to use it as this makes it much easier to roll.
  3. Roll the pastry out to fit a 23cm fluted tart tin and gently press into the tin. Then trim away any excess pastry, brush the base with some egg white (this is an important step) and chill in the fridge whilst you make the filling.

For the filling

  1. Preheat oven to 170°C fan.
  2. Peel the shallots and cut in half lengthways. Heat the oil and butter in a frying pan over a low heat and add the shallots. Cook gently for 15 mins, stirring occasionally, until they start to soften and brown.
  3. Whilst the shallots are cooking, prepare the asparagus. Remove the woody ends by bending each asparagus spear near the base until it snaps. Slice the spears diagonally into 2.5cm long pieces and add to the pan with the shallots for about 2 mins. Remove the pan from the heat.
  4. Whisk together the eggs, cream and milk in a bowl until well combined. Season with salt and pepper.
  5. Tip the shallots and asparagus into your prepared pastry case and pour the egg mixture carefully over the top. Cut the Wigmore into slices and lay over the top.
  6. Bake for 40 minutes until the tart has puffed up and turned golden on top. Delicious served hot or cold.

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