Provencal Asparagus Tartlet Recipe

With Spring just a couple of weeks away we thought we would get a jump on the celebrations.  This is quick and easy hors d’oeuvres, a great starter or even a light lunch.  We used a classic pate brisee  recipe for the crust but use what ever you are comfortable with. We did not include the dough recipe as we have shared it numerous times.

1 tablespoon/15ml olive oil

2 fresh garlic cloves, minced

1 medium shallot, minced

2 small tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced

1 pound/450g fresh asparagus spears, trimmed and blanched and cut into one inch/2.5cm pieces

2 tablespoons/30ml capers

1 ½ tablespoons/22ml dry sherry

Preheat a medium sized skillet  on medium heat until hot to the touch

Add the olive oil, and heat for a 20-30 seconds

Add the garlic, shallot, tomatoes, asparagus, and capers

Cook for 3-4 minutes.  Add the sherry and cook for one minute

Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper to taste

Place mixture into precooked basil tartlet* and serve

Basil Crust/Tartlet, this is a simple adaption of a regular pie crust.  Make your pie crust according to your recipe.  Before rolling out, add a handful of basil chiffonade (cut into thin strips) to the uncooked dough and roll out.  Using a cookie cutter or a small juice glass, cut the dough to the size of your mini-muffin tin.  Bake the dough according to your recipe’s instruction and let cool.  Poke holes in your uncooked dough while in the muffin tin with a fork on the bottom of the tartlet as well as the sides then put a piece of foil, old beans or pie weights to help reduce the amount of swelling during the cooking process.