Sunday, May 09, 2010

Tarte aux asperges et jambon blanc

One of my favorite asparagus dishes is this ham and asparagus tart that I saw made on tv one day. I've been making it during asparagus season for several years and it never disappoints. Of course, I've adjusted the recipe a little for our taste, but not too much.

This is the paper that this recent batch of asparagus came wrapped in.

Ken found these local white asparagus, from the nearby town of Soings-en-Sologne, in a supermarket for a good price the other day, so he bought them. They were fat spears, all wrapped in paper and a net bag. A more fancy presentation than the stuff I usually get at the Saturday market. But they were good and they made a fine tart.

The spears are wrapped in ham and baked in a cheesy custard.

The tart, as you probably know if you're a regular reader, is made with an egg and cream custard flavored with grated parmesan cheese. The cooked asparagus are wrapped in a slice of ham, and the whole thing is baked in a pie crust until yummily done. As they say in France, "c'est un régal!"

11 comments:

  1. Here's the recipe for the asparagus tart. You can make it with jambon blanc (Danish ham) or jambon cru (like Parma ham, or proscuitto), and either white or green asparagus spears.

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  2. Oops, that should be prosciutto.

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  3. I just want to take my fork and cut myself a serving from this beautiful close up. It looks utterly delicious!

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  4. It looks really good. I must try that.

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  5. It looks delicious....Barb

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  6. That does sound good. I prefer my asparagus 'disguised' in among other items, rather than by itself.

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  7. judy, thanks!

    diogenes, it is very tasty!

    starman, and it's pretty easy to make. You could use a store-bought pie crust if you wanted to.

    barb, merci!

    michael, these asparagus are very mild. The next time you're in France in the springtime, you can try them out!

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  8. I've been eying your asparagus tart longingly since you first posted about it. The problem is the ham. Clearly the wrapper is an important ingredient (and no doubt tasty). However, since I don't cook with pork products, I'm stumped about what to use as a wrapper instead. I'm wondering if you have any suggestions of variations I could try without the ham wrapper.

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  9. Susan, use smoked chicken or turkey slices instead of ham.

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  10. Hi Walt, tried to open Ken's link in the first comment, it opens up but cannot expand it, to read it properly. Looks tasty.

    Thanks anne

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