creamy garlic scape + chive flower pesto & asparagus tart
i can hardly believe it has been a month since I have posted up a recipe for you guys. the past few weeks have been such a whirlwind that i actually had not even realized it had been so long. i promise the whole summer will not be like this, i will be much more present from here on out.
i had said that this recipe would be up last week but i ended up coming down with a pretty bad flu on friday afternoon. i woke up that morning feeling a slight tingle in my throat, went to charlotte & the quail for the day and felt like i was progressively getting worse as the afternoon went on. by the time i got home i completely crashed. i had a bath literally the second i walked into the house and honestly i kinda though i wasn't going to make it out of the bath. my head felt like it weighted about 1500 pounds, i could barely open my eyes they hurt so much and although my throat wasn't intensely sore it had an awful stinging sensation.
friday evening was one of the worst nights, every hour or so i would wake up completely drenched in a cold sweat, i would fall back to sleep pretty quickly, which was great, but only to wake up an hour later in the same cold sweat situation. it almost felt like i was outside of my body, in this twilight zone knowing what is happening but not completely. i ended up waking up out of this almost trance like state on saturday afternoon, yes afternoon, at 12:30. i reached over to look at the time thinking it would maybe be around 8 or 9 am at the latest and it was 12:30! it was wild to say the least.
i slept much better last night and am already feeling heaps better, i have a bit of a cough still but my head is back to a normal weight and last night i didn't go through anymore of those cold sweats, thank goodness!
through a busy week and then coming down with the flu i never got a chance to share this creamy garlic scape and chive flower pesto and asparagus tart that i had promised you guys, so here i am coming to you guys on a sunday morning.
this tart is incredibly easy and is full of all the freshest summer ingredients. garlic scapes might just be my new favourite thing to eat and cook with. i had never really used them in the past but over the last couple of weeks i have been playing around with them and have fallen in love. you really can use them just like you would regular garlic. throw them in a pesto like i have, grill them up on the bbq until they are slightly charred, bake them up on a flatbread, simmer them into a nice summer soup....the options are pretty endless and they are really quite lovely and fun!
the pesto itself is also really versatile. if you have some left over it freezes really good, or you can keep it in the fridge for a couple of days and spread it on toast, have it with some eggs or chicken, use it as a dip for veggies etc etc...
creamy garlic scape + chive flower pesto & asparagus tart
pesto
1 cup cream cheese
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup fresh basil
4 garlic scapes
3 chives with flower heads
juice of half a lemon
salt and pepper to taste
tart
1 bunch of asparagus
1 package of puff pastry
garnishes
zest of one lemon
chive flowers
chopped basil
directions
preheat the oven to 400 degrees
de-thaw one square of puff pastry. once thawed roll out the square to about 9x9 (this does not have to be exact). transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet and place in the fridge until ready to use.
in a food processor add all of the pesto ingredients and blend until smooth.
break the ends off of the asparagus and set aside.
take your puff pastry out of the fridge and score a 1/2 inch border around the square. spread on (inside the score line) a layer of the pesto and top with the asparagus pieces keeping them whole. (if the asparagus is quite thick you can cut them in half length wise, but if they are fresh and local and thin keep them whole). whisk an egg up and wash the border of the tart with the egg, sprinkle some salt and pepper and then drizzle the whole tart with a little olive oil.
bake for 15-18 minutes. let the tart cool for a few minutes, then garnish with some fresh lemon zest, basil and chive flowers. serve warm.