Need an easy but impressive dish for the end of the month?
This Asparagus in Puff Pastry just might fit the bill.
Don’t be put off by the puff pastry ingredient. There is no need to make your own. You’ll find puff pastry in the frozen section of most supermarkets. It is very easy to work with. Just defrost, shape, fill and bake.
My local Jon’s Fresh Marketplace carries little 5 inch by 5 inch squares of puff pastry, the size you’ll need for this recipe. If you can’t find the pre-cut squares in your market, you could, of course, buy the larger sheets of puff pastry and cut them to size.
You can find a lot of Asparagus and Puff Pastry recipes online. This particular take on the dish is adapted from a recipe that appears on a site called The Bread Stone Ovens Company. You can find their recipe here.
By the way, if this recipe emboldens you to work with puff pastry, you can find another great recipe on Blue Cayenne. That one is for sweet Puff Pastry Pinwheels and you can find it here.The pinwheels are beautiful.
Asparagus in Puff Pastry
Ingredients
- Puff Pastry Packets
- A bunch of fresh asparagus stalks
- 1 T. olive oil
- A wedge of brie cheese
- Salt
- Black Pepper
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Squares of puff pastry (thawed)
- 1 Egg
- Honey Butter
- Honey
- Unsalted butter
- A pinch of salt
- Sprigs of thyme for garnish
Directions
- Step 1 Line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Step 2 Thaw the puff pastry.
- Step 3 Snap the tough ends off the raw asparagus. Toss the asparagus in bowl with 1 T. olive oil and salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Set aside.
- Step 4 Slice thin slices of brie cheese and put a slice on top of each puff pastry square.
- Step 5 Arrange several stalks of raw asparagus at an angle on top of the puff pastry squares. Fold the edges of the puff pastry over the asparagus and press gently to seal.
- Step 6 Brush each puff pastry/aspapargus packet with beaten egg.
- Step 7 Bake at 300 degrees F. for about 25 or 30 minutes. You want the puff pastry to puff a bit and turn a pretty golden brown.
- Step 8 Mix the honey and butter in a small saucepan with a generous pinch of salt. Heat and stir until the honey and butter are well mixed and until you have a runny honey sauce to drizzle over your baked asparagus packets. Garnish each packet with a few thyme sprigs or grated cheese, chopped parsley and cherry tomatoes and serve.
