Lemon Ricotta Asparagus Tart

Asparagus is one of my favorite spring veggies, so much so that I’ve planted an entire garden bed full of them! They came up for the first time this year, and while they’re not quite ready to eat (asparagus takes a couple years to mature to a thick enough size to cook with, but once they do, they’re a perennial!) I still have a fridge full of asparagus bunches from the farmers’ market! I use them constantly both raw and cooked, from breakfast through dinner. But my favorite right now is in a lemon ricotta asparagus tart!

If you know me, you know that, generally speaking, I am a ‘make it from scratch’ kinda gal, but the exception is puffed pastry! While I do love making it from scratch, I also make sure to have a box of pastry sheets on hand when I need to throw together a last-minute brunch stunner! If you’re using frozen puffed pastry, the hands-on prep time for this tart is about ten minutes, so you can work on other fun dishes while it cooks!

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Lemon Ricotta Asparagus Tart Ingredients

Lemon Ricotta Asparagus Tart Method

Defrost a rectangular sheet of puffed pastry for 25-30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Unfold and gently roll out the dough to remove creases. If you want a more uniform pastry sheet you can use a form to gently poke holes so it rises uniformly. However, I like a more rustic look, so I leave the pastry as-is and let it puff up at will.

Blind bake on a lined baking sheet for 12 minutes and then pull it out of the oven and set aside!

To prep your lemon, wash thoroughly and cut in half. Remove all the seeds. Zest and juice one half of the lemon. Quarter the other half of the lemon and then slice into thin slices.

Combine the ricotta, parmesan, egg, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. Mix well to combine.

To prep the asparagus, snap off the woody ends. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and blanch the prepped stalks for 30 seconds, plunging into an ice bath to stop the cooking process.

Spread the ricotta mixture over the pre-baked puffed pastry, leaving about an inch of space on the outer edge.

Place the asparagus in a single line, alternating directions so each slice will have both asparagus tops and ends. Layer the thin lemon slices on top.

Bake in the 400 degree oven for 18-20 minutes until the edges of the pastry are a nice golden brown and the ricotta mixture turns slightly more yellow.

Let cool completely then slice and serve!

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