My mom LOVES parties. I remember as a little girl, creeping on my belly into the edges of the living room with my sisters to spy on countless dinner parties my parents hosted for their friends. We thought we were pretty darn sneaky, hiding behind potted plants and armchairs, eavesdropping on their grown-up conversations…
So a couple weeks before her (83rd!) birthday last month, when my mom off-handedly muttered, “Next year, I’m going to take charge of my birthday. I don’t have anything planned…” I knew what had to be done. Plan a P A R T Y !!! Actually, several parties. We managed to be truly sneaky and surprise her over and over with fun celebrations: a surprise family dinner, several rounds of spontaneous “Happy Birthday” choruses and a luncheon with dear friends.
I have to admit, I probably got her party gene. Drew actually calls me Party Girl. One of my fave parts is the planning. It’s almost more fun than the actual event, I think.
I usually try all sorts of new recipes for parties, which is probably slightly risky, but that’s part of the fun. This recipe for Prosciutto and Asparagus Tarts was a little something I dreamed up because it sounded like a good springtime combo with lots of my favorite flavors. (Okay, so I’m a bit selfish when it comes to cooking…I just make what sounds good to me and hope the rest of ya are good with it.)
It’s about the easiest thing on the planet to make, and it turned out to be a hit, so happy day! New easy recipe. And new yummy lunch menu:
Perhaps we’ll post a few more of these recipes in the upcoming weeks, but for new, here’s the super easy, fast and delish Prosciutto and Asparagus Tarts! Cheers!
Ingredients
- 1 box puff pastry (2 sheets of pastry)
- One 6.5 ounce carton soft garlic cheese spread (Like Alouette Garlic & Herbs)
- 10 asparagus spears
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- 10 slices prosciutto
Instructions
- Set frozen puff pastry on counter for about 45 minutes to thaw. (Keep it in package or covered so it doesn't dry out.)
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Separate the two pieces of pastry and unfold. Using a rolling pin, roll both pieces out to about 10x15 rectangles. I like to do this on parchment which I've lightly dusted with flour. The parchment can then be lifted right onto a cookie sheet to bake.
- Bake pastry for 5 minutes.
- While pastry is baking, set a medium saucepan on stove with about 3-4 inches of water. Bring water to a boil.
- Cut asparagus into 1-2 inch pieces. Add asparagus and blanch for 1-2 minutes. Plunge into cold water and dry thoroughly.
- Take pastry out of oven and spread liberally with cheese spread. (If it's too hard to spread, put cheese in microwave for about 10 seconds to soften.)
- Toss asparagus with olive oil and place on top of cheese. Place back in oven for about 10 more minutes, until pastry is golden brown and flaky.
- Remove from oven and add ribbons of prosciutto across top.
- Let cool slightly and cut each pastry into 9 pieces.
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