Serves a Crowd

Asparagus, Zucchini and Ricotta Tart (Like a Quiche)

March 15, 2011
4.7
3 Ratings
  • Serves 6
Author Notes

This recipe came from the need for a nice brunch for a late spring garden event committee meeting I hosted. Zucchini, lemon, ricotta and asparagus go so well together. I like the quiche consistency of the filling, and the asparagus gets nice and roasted. Add some puff pastry, and a nice arugula side salad with big shavings of fresh Parmesan, and you can't go wrong. To avoid a soggy crust - make sure the zucchini is dried and cooked thoroughly. This dish is lovely with glass of crisp Viognier. - Burnt Offerings —Burnt Offerings

Test Kitchen Notes

Not only are the ingredients for Burnt Offerings' Mother's Day dish uniformly crowd-friendly, but the combination of the flaky puff pastry (amplified by the saltiness of the parmesan-encrusted rim), creamy ricotta-zucchini filling, and tender asparagus is immensely satisfying. Nothing says "I love you" like artfully-arranged asparagus spears. - CookLikeMad —CookLikeMad

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed
  • 1 pound zucchini - grated
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons salt - divided
  • 1 bunch asparagus - trimmed
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium onion - finely chopped (1 cup)
  • 1 garlic clove - minced
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
  • 1 cup ricotta cheese - drained for 15 min.
  • 1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 egg yolk mixed with 2 TBL water for egg wash
Directions
  1. Place grated zucchini in colander set over large bowl. Sprinkle with 3/4 teaspoon salt and toss to coat. Let drain at least 30 minutes. Working in batches, squeeze zucchini in kitchen towel to remove as much liquid as possible. It’s important that the zucchini is dry.
  2. While the zucchini is draining, blanch the trimmed asparagus spears in boiling water for 3 minutes. Plunge into ice water to stop cooking, cool, and dry thoroughly on paper towels.
  3. Melt 2 tablespoons butter with oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until soft and translucent, about 7 minutes.
  4. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
  5. Add zucchini and lemon juice; reduce heat to medium-low and cook until zucchini is tender, and mixture is dry, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes. Cool to room temperature.
  6. Whisk ricotta cheese, 1/3 cup Parmesan, egg, lemon peel, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt in medium bowl. Stir in cooled zucchini mixture.
  7. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat. On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1 pastry to a 10" x 15" rectangle, 1/8-inch thick and transfer to baking sheet.
  8. Trim 1 inch of pastry from each edge of the rectangle and set aside next to its edge. Wash the rectangle along each border with the egg wash, and then top with the piece of trimmed pastry, creating a raised edge. Overlap the corners.
  9. Spread zucchini filling evenly over pastry, filling the pastry box.
  10. Arrange the asparagus spears decoratively on the top of the filling.
  11. Apply the egg wash to the raised borders, sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese and some fleur de sel or kosher salt.
  12. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes until puffed and golden. Let rest at least 5 minutes before serving. Can be made ahead and reheated.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • KakiSue
    KakiSue
  • MrsBeeton
    MrsBeeton
  • ibbeachnana
    ibbeachnana
  • wssmom
    wssmom
  • boulangere
    boulangere

27 Reviews

Jill F. August 16, 2015
delicious, easy make ahead dish. we ate it room temperature about 3 hours after i baked it and it was perfect. filling and easy, fresh and tasty. served it with a simple green salad with avocado dressing. summer supper...
 
clorinda February 20, 2015
Hi there, this look great! I'd like to make it for dinner, any suggestions as to what to serve with it? Thanks
 
KakiSue April 9, 2014
this will be on the table for our family Easter feast!
 
jslade December 23, 2013
This was definitely a beautiful and impressive dish. I made it ahead and reheated it to serve and it was delicious. The only thing I would do differently is I would add the asparagus to the tart when reheat it so it doesn't cook the asparagus twice in the oven. Also, I had enough ricotta stuffing for 2 tarts, which was even better.
 
Tedchef April 4, 2013
I made this the other day it was fantastic!!
 
Tedchef April 4, 2013
I made this the other day for my family, and they loved it!!! It is very rich and flavorful, I will make again sometime!!
 
MrsBeeton June 18, 2012
For a graduation lunch, I made this tart and the sausage and kale dinner tart (a family favorite). No one believed that I had made them myself, because not only were they super delicious, but they were also (and especially this one) incredibly nice to look at! (This was thanks in part to the frozen Dufour puff pastry I found at our local foodie market--wow!) Thanks for a recipe I'll use again and again!
 
ibbeachnana May 19, 2011
Oops, that was try "this" recipe
 
ibbeachnana May 19, 2011
I have to tryhis recipe, outstanding!
 
wssmom May 7, 2011
This looks like a perfect Mother's Day offering!
 
boulangere May 6, 2011
How lovely that this cropped no pun intended up today! I made this today for our newspaper's website on a feature for Mother's Day menu ideas. It was so lovely!
 
Burnt O. May 6, 2011
WOW!! Thank you boulangere - I'm honored!
 
boulangere May 6, 2011
I'm grateful to you for such a beautiful creation.
 
spring_trees April 13, 2011
I've made this twice already - my friends love it and gobble it down. Pretty easy to make too, and looks great with carefully placed asparagus.
 
Burnt O. April 13, 2011
Wow! thanks so much - I'm glad you enjoyed it! If you have any suggestions on how to improve it - please let me know.
 
Burnt O. March 16, 2011
I truly believe this one may have been Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry. No surprises.
 
cheese1227 March 16, 2011
Looks lovely. Do yo u have a favorite brand of puff pastry?
 
adamnsvetcooking March 16, 2011
This looks soo yummie, great for brunch:)
 
boulangere March 15, 2011
Beautiful! It reeks of springtime!
 
healthierkitchen March 15, 2011
so. so pretty!
 
fiveandspice March 15, 2011
This looks fabulous! Spring in a tart!
 
Burnt O. March 15, 2011
Yeah - that's the only thing that kept me from submitting it for the tart contest last week. It's definitely not "Late Winter". :-)
 
Sagegreen March 15, 2011
Love! What a gorgeous presentation. This summer I am going to be active with our csa. I hope our meetings will be half as much fun as your gardening committee.
 
hardlikearmour March 15, 2011
I echo mrslarkin's response! Presentation is beautiful, and I'd love to be invited to your garden committee meetings if this kind of deliciousness is served.
 
Burnt O. March 15, 2011
Our meetings are a hoot! This was just a committee meeting, but our monthly meetings are bacchanalian food fests. We keep threatening to get T-shirts made up with our logo and the tag line: "Drinkers with a Gardening Problem".