These Easy Asparagus and Goat Cheese tarts make a perfect lunch to enjoy during springtime. Crispy puff pastry topped with a herbed goat cheese mixture and seasonal asparagus.

Ingredients for these Easy Asparagus and Goat Cheese Tarts

Puff pastry: I have used store bought one, as sometimes it’s a good alternative for a quick recipe. However, you can also use homemade dough, check out below to find my favourite dough for this recipe!
Asparagus: Fresh seasonal asparagus work best! I chose smaller asparagus as I wanted to make mini tarts, however, you can use larger thicker ones for small or even a whole large tart. Be sure to use similar sized asparagus for even baking.
Goat Cheese: Creamy fresh goat cheese will make a smooth mixture, a comfortable bed for the asparagus.
Crème Fraîche: This will help make the cheese mixture creamier whilst adding a tangier taste. A good substitute for crème fraîche is sour cream or else strained yogurt.
Lemon: Gives the whole tart a touch of freshness.
Herbs: I use a mix of fresh parsley and dried oregano and dill. These are staple herbs in my kitchen, which go well in this recipe. However, other herbs will work well such as thyme and oregano.
Garlic powder: I like to add a touch so to elevate and give another flavour profile to the tarts.

Want to make the dough yourself instead of store bought?

Here is an alternative!

For this appetizer, I opted to go with a store bought one, as I wanted to keep it as quick and easy as possible. However, you can easily make the dough yourself. The one which I would opt for is this flaky dough below, as I adore how crumbly this type of dough gets, and personally I just love picking up the fallen crumbs from the plate. Besides, this dough is so easy to make and I have used in it in multiple recipes such as: Leek, Mushroom and Feta Hand Pies and Quick Ġbejniet and Peas Puff Pastries .

Pie Dough

350 g plain flour

230 g cubed cold butter

1 tsp salt

5 tbsp cold water

In a large bowl mix together the flour and salt. Add the cubed cold butter and work into the flour. Rub in all the butter in the flour until you have a coarse mixture with small pebbles of butter.

Slowly start adding a tablespoon at a time of cold water, while forming a smooth dough. Your dough might require less or more water. Once the dough is ready, wrap into some cling film and store in the fridge for at least an hour or two.

FAQs

How to store any leftover Asparagus and Goat Cheese Tarts

Whenever I have leftovers or I want to take some with me for my lunch break, I like to store them in an airtight container in the fridge for not more than 3 days. I wouldn’t recommend more as the puff pastry will start getting soggy. When I’m ready to enjoy these tarts, I simply heat them up for a few minutes!

Can I make one large tart

Of course! In this recipe here I made them small as the asparagus I had on hand was small, so I think that works best. However, you can do this recipe as one large tart! The baking time might differ and it would need about 5/10 minutes more in the oven.

How to serve these mini tarts?

I like to serve these tarts with a side of fresh salad or else some protein. Really, the options are endless, as these tarts compliment so many different foods. And they can also be enjoyed as healthy snack or as a savoury breakfast!

Ingredients

1 large sheet puff pastry 300g
140 g goat cheese
100 g crème fraîche or sour cream
a bunch of asparagus 100g small ones or 300g large
zest of a lemon
2 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried dill
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg beaten + 1 tablespoon milk egg wash

Instructions

Pre-bake the puff pastry

Preheat the oven to 200°C or 400°F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Set aside. Cut the puff pastry into 10 equal rectangles. Score a border around the puff pastry of about 0.5cm and poke the center part with a fork. Brush each one with the egg wash. Bake for around 10 minutes. Once they have a slight nice golden brown colour, take them out. If the centre puffs, press/break it down gently, leaving the border intact.

Prepare the goat cheese mixture

In a bowl mix together 100g goat cheese, crème fraîche, herbs, garlic powder, salt and lemon zest. Set aside.

Assemble

Cut off the hard ends of the asparagus.
Spread the cheese mixture over the centre of the pastry, leaving the border empty. Place the asparagus on top. I place 3 small ones on each tart, you might need to do more or less, depending how big your asparagus are. Drizzle with olive oil, and crumble on top the remaining 40g of goat cheese.
Bake for 15 minutes until the asparagus are nice and tender. Once baked, sprinkle some more fresh parsley on top.

Nutrition

If you have any questions, feedback or comments on this recipe, please leave a comment below. Please also rate this recipe by double clicking on the stars below. If you did make this recipe, tag @apronandwhisk and hashtag #apronandwhisk, as I’m curious to see what you create! Don’t forget to subscribe to the mailing list down below so to receive the recipe updates straight to your mailbox!

Easy Asparagus and Goat Cheese Tarts