Asparagus and Pepper Tart

The other day when I was busy cooking and baking “with my Italian Nonnas” Channeling the Italian Nonnas one of the things I made was an asparagus tart. But was it really a tart or was it a quiche? Well, technically, I suppose in this case, it could be either. Here are the main differences between tarts and quiches. They are similar but they are also very different too. A tart can be either sweet or savory and may or may not have a custard-based filling. Tarts can have pie-like fruit fillings instead. A quiche is always savory and always has a custard-based (egg and milk) filling. Quiches can also have other savory ingredients added to them, like ham, cheese, or anything else you like to add as well.

I made this tart with asparagus, red peppers, garlic and red onions. It was a huge hit and disappeared very quickly.

Asparagus and Pepper Tart

I started off with my basic dough Mile High Crab Quiche and then went from there.

My basic go-to dough, although this time I added pepper into the dough mix as well

2 cups asparagus spears, par cooked and blanched

1/2 red pepper sliced into thin strips

1/4 red onion, sliced very thin

1 TBSP garlic

3-4 eggs

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

salt & pepper to taste

4 slices Swiss cheese, or light cheese of your choice

crushed peppercorns to taste

When you make your dough, let it set in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before rolling it out. Then on a lightly floured surface, roll it out to fit in your tart pan. Firmly press the dough into the pan.

Preheat the oven to 400* F or 200* C.

Par cook the asparagus then blanche it in ice cold water so it will not continue to cook.

Saute the peppers, onions and garlic in olive oil until they are tender.

Add the cheese to the dough, making sure to cover the whole bottom.

Add the peppers and onion mixture then arrange the asparagus spears all around on top of the peppers.

Mix the eggs, cream and salt and pepper together and carefully pour over the vegetables to fill the pan. This is optional, but I wanted to use some of my new peppercorns I received from Julia as part of my birthday present. Another Birthday Surprise . The package had 6 different types of peppercorns, and for this recipe, I chose to use the rainbow peppercorns. I crushed them and sprinkled them around on top of the egg mixture.

Once the tart is ready, carefully place it in the oven uncovered and let it bake for about 30-40 minutes or until the dough is golden and the eggs are done. Let the tart cool before cutting into wedges. You can eat this at any time, for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner or just something in between.

Stay safe, stay well and stay warm Everyone. ‘Til next time.