Pate Brisee

While I was in France I attended a cooking class where we made Pate Brisee for our appetizer. Herbed goat cheese mixed with the crème fraîche was mouthwateringly good! No, that’s not a real word but I’ve made it one for this occasion. Okay, then imagine the herbed cream on a flaky crust with tender asparagus and you’re in heaven!

Pate Brisee

250 grams flour
140 grams butter
6 grams salt
15 grams sugar
1 egg
20-30 grams water
One small package of herbed goat cheese
1/4 cup of crème fraîche
One bunch of asparagus white and green
Extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling
Salt and pepper
Mix flour and butter with the tips of your fingers until the mix looks like powder. Make a well in the mixture and add salt, sugar, egg, water, and mixed together. This can also be made with a KitchenAid. Roll out the dough into a rectangle, and cut the rectangle. Bake at 350° for about 30 minutes. When it comes out of the oven cut the rectangle into eight equal sized smaller rectangles. Then chop the asparagus to a length just shorter than each small rectangle and put 3-4 asparagus stalks on each rectangle, alternating green and white asparagus. Drizzle the tops with olive oil and salt and pepper. Bake again for about 15 minutes or until asparagus is tender.  Whip together equal parts of herb goat cheese and crème Fraîche and transfer to a piping bag (Or a Ziploc bag with one corner cut open). Once the asparagus tarts have cooled a little bit you can pipe the crème fraîche into one corner of the pastry. Serve immediately.