asparagus

When asparagus is on sale at Trader Joe’s right before Easter you stock up and figure out what to do with it later. Oh, that’s not what you do? I guess it’s just me. I figured I could do a lot with asparagus, from adding it to an omelet or frittata to roasting it and serving along side some chicken or beef. I knew I would use it, I just didn’t quite now how.

After a quick inventory check of fridge and freezer, I realized I had everything I needed to make a savory asparagus prosciutto tart. The perfect Spring brunch dish!

Start by blanching the asparagus by dumping the trimmed asparagus in boiling water for a few minutes then transferring to an ice bath. The asparagus will turn bright green and be slightly tender.

Prepare the puff pastry by creating a 1/2 inch border and poking holes with the tines of a fork in the center then bake until it’s slightly golden.

While the puff pastry is puffing up in the oven, make the filling. Mix together marscarpone cheese, sour cream, and egg, shallot, lemon zest, parsley, and Parmesan cheese.

Take the puff pastry out of the oven and if you see that your puff pastry has been stubborn and puffed up even where you poked holes, press it down with the back of a spoon. Spread the marscarpone mixture into the cavity that you created, leaving the border untouched.

On top, add a thin layer of prosciutto. If you really like prosciutto, knock yourself out and add more than one thin layer. Top that with the asparagus and even more Parmesan, because this thing needs more cheese.

Once the puff pastry is nice and golden brown and the asparagus is tender and slightly roasted, it is done!

I topped mine with a little bit more lemon zest and parsley. And if you read last weeks post, you know I also topped this with some creamy hollandaise sauce! The perfect condiment to go with asparagus!

If you are an asparagus lover like me, then you will find absolutely no fault with this asparagus prosciutto tart. It was absolutely delicious and the perfect brunch for Easter! It would also be great for Mother’s Day!

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If you want to add a little decadence to your meal, add hollandaise sauce. It should be the definition of decadent. How could egg yolks blended with butter be anything but!

Making hollandaise can be a little bit of a pain in the butt, however. I’ve tried to make it on a couple of occasions and it has always been more work than it’s worth. Then I learned you could make hollandaise in a blender and my life was changed! It couldn’t have been easier. No more double boiler. No more constant whisking. I could just throw everything into the blender and let it do the work for me.

There are only a few ingredients in hollandaise sauce: egg yolks, butter, lemon juice, cayenne, salt, pepper, and a bit of water. First add the eggs, lemon juice, and water to the blender and give that thing a good blend. You want your egg yolks to be nice and pale and frothy.

Melt the butter, and while it is still hot gradually pour it into the egg mixture with the blender running. Be prepared to get a little bit splattered.

Keep the blender running until the sauce thickens…then blend it a little more.

The last step is to add some seasoning. Julia Childs likes to add a bit of cayenne in addition to some salt and pepper. I am not one to argue with Julia, so I, added some cayenne, too. You could also add a dash of hot sauce or paprika.

And that’s all you have to do to make some delicious hollandaise sauce! Easy right? I bet you thought hollandaise sauce would be a lot more complicated! I sure did.

Hollandaise sauce can go on a lot more than just Eggs Benedict. I drizzled this on top of an asparagus tart, which was delicious paired with the lemony sauce. I hear it is also amazing with most vegetables, especially root vegetables, eggs, ham, and fish.

Now that you know how to make a quick and easy hollandaise, you can use that as a base to make lots of other sauces (that’s why hollandaise is considered one of the French mother sauces)! Here are some ideas to get you started!

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Asparagus Prosciutto Tart

5 Minute Hollandaise Sauce (Made in a Blender!)