Vegetarian friendly

Mindlessly simple asparagus and pepper tart

published

Jun 2026

I have realized that my favorite cooking style is "mindlessly simple, but tasty!"

This recipe for making tarts really fits the bill. The simplicity of it opens the way for being creative with the filling.

Springtime is asparagus season, so that is what we are eating now.

Mindlessly simple asparagus and pepper tart

The brilliant thing about this way of doing tarts is how you make the "crust." It's done simply by scoring an inch around the outside of the thawed pastry, which puffs, and then pricking the middle, where the filling goes, with a fork to keep it from puffing. Then add filling and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. So simple, and so elegantly good.

There are so many ways to fill the tart, and here is what I did for my latest version.

Ingredients

  • 1 sheet frozen puff pastry
  • Asparagus, ends trimmed to fit into the pastry
  • 1 cup goat cheese, crumbled
  • 1 cup gruyère cheese, coarsely grated
  • Red pepper, slivered
  • 1 green onion, minced
  • Oregano or other seasonings

    • Instructions

    1. Thaw pastry according to package directions. It usually comes folded, so unfold as soon as you can and place on parchment paper that covers a baking sheet. The pastry should be just thawed (still pretty cold), and not sticky.
    2. With a knife, score a one-inch border around the pastry.
    3. Prick the interior part, where you will put the filling, all over, using a fork.
    4. Sprinkle goat cheese evenly in the middle part.
    5. Sprinkle oregano or other spices over the goat cheese.
    6. Cover the goat cheese evenly with the grated gruyère.
    7. Arrange the asparagus and peppers on top, and sprinkle with minced green onion. Be sure to cover the entire interior square, especially around the edges, to prevent boring corners. It may seem odd because the pile of ingredients will be much higher than the crust. But the cheese will melt down a bit and the crust puffs up.
    8. Bake about 20 minutes in a 400-degree oven.

    Makes 4–6 servings, but it can be cut smaller for appetizers.

    Many thanks to https://littlesunnykitchen.com/asparagus-tart/ for the crust trick.

    Enjoy!

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