You'll love this quick asparagus puff pastry appetizer or side dish. With a creamy cracked pepper and cottage cheese filling, pickled red onions and olives, it's delicious.
I love that I can make a flaky puff pastry tart in minutes, using store-bought dough. Then fill it with creamy cottage cheese and roasted asparagus. It's a crowd pleaser.
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I partnered with Hood Cottage Cheese to create recipes using their new flavor, Hood Cottage Cheese with Cracked Pepper!
I love Hood's cottage cheese because it is such a versatile food, and they have so many flavors to choose from. We all know cottage cheese is a great snack, but do you use it to its full potential? It's such a great addition to appetizers, main dishes and sides!
I knew I wanted a creamy filling for my asparagus puff pastry, and cottage cheese was the perfect addition.
You can find Hood Cottage Cheese in your city here.
I'll tell you how to use puff pastry
Prepared puff pastry is kept in the freezer section of the grocery store. I let it thaw at room temperature for a few minutes and then unfold a piece to use it.
- Unfold thawed puff pastry
- Roll out on a lightly floured work surface and transfer to a sheet of parchment paper
- Trim to the preferred shape
- If making a border, cut strips and adhere to the base with an egg wash or water
- Dock or prick the inside with a fork to keep it from puffing too much
- Brush edges with egg wash to make it bake shiny
- Slide parchment onto a baking sheet and bake puff pastry until golden brown.
- Cool and fill as desired
I use puff pastry in other delicious appetizers and side dishes:
Ham and Gruyere Mini Turnovers
I fill my puff pastry flatbread with Hood Cottage Cheese with Cracked Pepper. It's an easy, creamy filling that is already perfectly blended.
Making a cream filled puff pastry tart
I love the fresh, slight tang that cottage cheese adds to this tart.
Roasting the asparagus sweetens it even more than it is already, and the salt and pepper gives it a pleasant savory flavor. It's perfect and beautiful on top of Hood's creamy cottage cheese.
Quick Pickled Red Onions
I made a vinaigrette heavy with sliced red onions. The onions pickle just slightly in the vinegar and become extra savory-sweet. Salty olives are the finishing touch to this delicious flatbread.
Serve this Asparagus Puff Pastry for any meal.
- For brunch
- As a side dish
- With a salad
- As a midday meal
- As an appetizer
Do you know: How is cottage cheese made?
Cottage cheese is an American term, but the technique of making it came from Europe's farmhouses. Fresh, slightly acidic cottage cheese curds in a naturally soured milk.
The process
Adding an acid to milk is what causes the separation of the milk solids and whey when making cottage cheese. The culture added produces lactic acid which forms the curds. After the curds are formed the whey is drained. The curds are cooked to release all the whey and then rinsed and salted.
Now have fun adding cottage cheese to your every day recipes. I even use it in my desserts!
Try my Strawberry Basil Summer Cookie Recipe with cottage cheese filling.
This puff pastry tart crust gets filled with black pepper cottage cheese and topped with roasted asparagus, plus a chunky red onion and herb vinaigrette. A simple side or appetizer, this flatbread is a crowd pleaser.
- ¼ cup sherry or balsamic vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs (any mix of basil, oregano, thyme, marjoram or parsley)
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- ½ cup sliced red onion
- ½ a package puff pastry (17.3 oz.)
- 1 egg
- Kosher salt and pepper
- 1 bunch (1 lb) asparagus
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Kosher salt and pepper
- 1½ cups Hood Cottage Cheese with Cracked Pepper
- ¼ cup sliced kalamata olives
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Make Dressing: In a bowl whisk together the vinegar, sugar, and salt. Add the herbs and olive oil and whisk well. Stir in red onions and set aside.
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Heat oven to 400°F. Beat egg with 1 tablespoon of water and set aside.
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Unfold one pastry sheet onto a lightly floured work surface, and using a rolling pin, roll it into a 14-by-11-inch rectangle. transfer rectangle to a sheet of parchment.
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Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut ½-inch strips from each side. Brush the edges of the pastry rectangle with egg wash. Trim strips to fit perfectly on top of the pastry rectangle. Place strips on edge of tart. Slide the tart with parchment onto a baking sheet then prick it inside the border several times with a fork.
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Brush the border with beaten egg and sprinkle with kosher salt and cracked pepper, if desired.
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Bake it for about 13 to 14 minutes, or until light golden brown. remove it from the oven and cool.
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While pastry cooks, trim tough bottom ends from asparagus. On a rimmed baking sheet toss the asparagus with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and salt and pepper. When pastry is out of the oven, adjust oven to broil setting. Broil asparagus until tender and caramelized, 3 to 5 minutes (depending on your broiler). Remove and let cool.
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When pastry crust is cool spread with Hood Cottage Cheese with Cracked Pepper. Top with roasted asparagus. Spoon some red onion vinaigrette over the top and sprinkle with olives.
Note: Pastry crust may be baked up to a day in advance. Fill and serve when ready.
By Tara Teaspoon. Photography Ty Mecham.
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