Asparagus, Nutmeg and Parmesan Tart

I'm going to keep this short and straight to the point.
Make this. Enough said.

Asparagus, Nutmeg and Parmesan Tart

First make the pastry:

The trick with good pastry is not to overwork the flour. I gave James directions once to make pastry while I was in Australia and he was in New York. He rang me the next day to say the filling worked well but the pastry was terrible - he had used a potato masher to combine the fat with the flour. Gentle as a sledgehammer on glass.

5oz (150g) butter
1 egg
8 oz (250g) plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of sugar
2 tablespoons of milk

Using electric beaters, cream the butter. Add the egg and mix well until combined.
Add the flour and beat on the lowest possible speed until incorporated, 1-2 minutes and this should be done.
Add the salt and mix for another forty seconds. Add the sugar and milk and stir these in by hand. Cover this with plastic wrap and allow to rest in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

After resting, take half the pastry and roll out the pastry to a thickness of about 1/2 inch (1.5cm) on a lightly floured surface. Place into a greased tart mould. I used a 12 inch 30 cm)pie tin.

(After pressing the pastry into the tin, use the rolling pin to go around the edges to remove any excess pastry and give your tart a really clean line.)



Preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C/Gas Mark 4.


Allow to rest again for about 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Line the tin with baking paper and fill with pastry weights, dried beans or rice. Blind bake for 10-12 minutes until pale golden in color.


Prepare the filling:

1 bunch asparagus
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
31/2 oz (100g) Parmesan cheese grated
10 fl oz (300ml) Heavy Cream (Double cream)
Salt and pepper
Good pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
Dash of cayenne pepper


Cut the asparagus 21/2 inches from the top. Reserve the tips and set aside.

Cut the remaining stems into small chunks, don't use the woody ends. Place the small chunks in a blender or food processor and pulse, until there is a smooth green pulp.





Add the eggs and pulse again. Add the parmesan, cream, salt, pepper, nutmeg and cayenne and pulse again. YOu don't need a fine puree, just everything nicely combined, a little texture works well in the final product.

Pour the creamy mixture into the blind baked pastry case. Place tips on top. Bake on a tray in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until set.

(For some reason, I saw this photo and thought, oh wow, look "Jaws" view. And yes I mean Spielberg's Great White - good chance my sister Katie is the only one who will understand.)

Cool on a wire rack.