Asparagus-Ricotta Tart {A Meatless Monday Recipe

Savor the final days of spring with this asparagus-ricotta tart made of puff pastry while asparagus is still in season.

This tart is perfect for Meatless Monday or any day of the week. With each bite of this tart, you get the fresh zing of lemon zest, creamy homemade ricotta cheese, crispy puff pastry, and sweet pops of garlicky onions with savory mushrooms.

Let’s make asparagus-ricotta tart!

How To Make Asparagus-Ricotta Tart

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

Saute the Mushrooms and Asparagus:

Heat olive oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and sauté, about 30 seconds to infuse the oil (Do not brown!).

Add onions and mushrooms and a pinch of salt; cook until tender.

Remove mushrooms and onions from the pan; set aside to cool. Add asparagus to the same pan and cook over medium-high heat until asparagus is crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Prepare the Puff Pastry for the Asparagus-Ricotta Tart:

Roll out the sheet of pastry dough on a lightly floured surface to about 9 ½ x 14 inches (As long as it fits your pan, size is not important).

Place a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet and transfer pastry to the baking sheet.

At this point I felt my dough was getting a bit to warm, so I placed it in the freezer for about 5 minutes, while the asparagus was sauteing, to ensure it would still puff when baking.

Build the Asparagus-Ricotta Tart:

Using a knife, gently score a 1–inch border around the edge of the dough.

Spread ricotta evenly on the pastry, leaving the 1–inch border around the edge, using the back of a spoon.

Place the asparagus onto the ricotta, in a row, making sure to alternate the head and ends all the way across the puff pastry sheet with ricotta cheese.

Sprinkle lemon zest and the mushroom, onion, garlic mixture on top of the asparagus.

Season with salt and pepper and grate fresh parmesan cheese on top.

Bake the Tart:

Bake until pastry is golden brown; about 20 to 25 minutes. 

Cut and Serve the Tart

Let cool slightly and serve warm, cut into (6) 4 x 5-inch pieces.

I used a pizza cutter to cut the tart after cooling for a few minutes.

This tart turned out exactly as I had planned for it too. Using the lemon juice for making the ricotta really complimented the asparagus well. I sure hope you’ll give this recipe a try!