It’s time to ditch the stodgy comfort food and revitalise our menus with lighter, brighter seasonal dishes… and, perhaps, start planning some alfresco dining fun in the sun?
If double cream is a little too indulgent for your tastes, use a reduced fat variety, or even reduced fat crème fraîche. And if you’re not a fan of goats’ cheese, feta works well too. Go on – spring out!
Ingredients (serves 6)
1 x 320g sheet of ready-rolled, all-butter shortcrust pastry
1 x bunch of asparagus (around 200g), chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 red pepper, seeded, roasted and chopped into bite-sized pieces (or, use the jarred variety)
4 spring onions, finely sliced
3 large eggs
280ml double cream
½ a bunch of fresh chives, finely chopped
100g goats’ cheese, sliced or cut into small pieces
Serving suggestion: new potatoes; steamed new season spinach
Method
Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas mark 5 and line a lightly-greased 23cm fluted flan/tart tin with the pastry, trimming the overhang to create a neat edge. Cover the pastry case with baking paper, fill with baking beans or uncooked rice and bake for 15 minutes before removing the baking paper and beans (or rice) and baking for another 8-10 minutes or so, until the pastry is lightly golden brown. Remove the pastry case from the oven, set to one side, reduce the oven heat to 180°C/gas mark 4 and preheat a baking tray.
Blanch the asparagus (including the tips) in a pan of boiling salted water for 2 minutes, drain into a large sieve and refresh under cold running water. Pat the asparagus with kitchen paper to remove any excess water and tip into a large bowl with the spring onions and roasted red pepper. Stir to combine and scatter across the base of the pastry case.
Whisk the eggs, cream, chives and seasoning together in a jug, gently pour the mixture across the vegetables and dot the goats’ cheese across the top.
Bake the tart on the preheated baking tray for 30-40 minutes or until the filling is lightly set (a bit of ‘wobble’ is good) and golden brown on top.
Allow to stand for 5-10 minutes before slicing and serve with new potatoes and steamed, new season spinach.