Angela's Test Kitchen - Asparagus Tarts

You might be saying, What asparagus tarts?!? But this isn't a sweet recipe, it's a savory one. My first savory recipe on the blog! A quick and easy appetizer or side dish (also vegan!)

I took the idea from a few recipes. One was from a vegan blog called Vegan Yum Yum. I was trying to come up with yummy ideas for a volunteer catering gig that I'm doing for work. The group I'm cooking for is mostly vegetarians with a few vegans. Also got this idea from a white bean dip that I used to make. I lost that recipe but it was similar to this one. Since I couldn't decide what recipe to do, I modified both recipes and put half and half on the puff pastry.

garlic on the left, pesto on the right

Pesto White Bean filling
Half a can of cannelloni beans
1 big teaspoon of pesto
a small handful of almonds
a pinch of salt
tablespoon-ish of water

Combine in a cuisnart!

Garlic White Bean filling (can also be a dip!)
Half a can of cannelloni beans
2 cloves of garlic
a pinch of salt
a splash of lemon juice
tablespoon-ish of olive oil

Combine in a cuisnart! In the future, I'd like to try adding some oregano or thyme or cumin or cayenne pepper or a mix of those! But since this was a test kitchen, I wanted to taste the garlic verses the pesto.

Roll out the puff pastry shell, lay on a lightly greased pan. I use Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheets, they taste good and they're vegan. (don't believe that they are vegan? PETA says so, so it must be true) Since I made both the spreads, I spread one white bean mix on half of the puff pastry, and the other on the other half. Lay the asparagus on top. Brush olive oil on the asparagus. I only had 4 stalks of asparagus in the fridge, but ideally you'd put more veggies on it! Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes until the puff pastry is golden brown on the edges.

Now who's the winner?!

The pesto side was the most flavorful of course. It wasn't as liquidity so the puff pastry was done better on the bottom, was flaky and nice. The downside it was more dry and pasty than the garlic side. I would say that next time adding olive oil to the pesto recipe, would help. The garlic side was good, but maybe I shouldn't add the lemon juice and water so the bottom cooks better. I will also try it next time with some herbs and spices. Try it on your own and let me know what the secret ingredient should be!