Food: Spring Tarts

I love the official start of Spring was a couple days ago, but I'm usually ready much earlier, like around March 1st--how about you? Lauren here, and today I'm back with a recipe that looks and tastes like spring. Light and flaky pastry dough, lemon- and thyme-flavored ricotta, asparagus, peas, and mint all come together (quite quickly) to make pretty tarts.

 I know this recipe has me eager to plan a girls' brunch or lunch soon, and I hope you'll be adding it to your to-make list too. Keep reading for the details! 

These asparagus and pea tarts are made easy with store-bought puff pastry (from the frozen section) and made delicious with creamy ricotta, fresh herbs, and generous amounts of lemon zest. I love the flavor of lemon paired with spring vegetables, but you can always scale back on the zest a bit if you prefer.

There's really not much to it...just a bit of layering of this and that, and baking in between. I love a recipe that yields impressive-looking results but isn't complicated to whip up, and this one falls right into that bucket. 

Ingredients

1 sheet of store-bought puff pastry, thawed

A handful of thin asparagus, chopped into 2-3-inch long pieces with stems

3/4 cup ricotta

4 sprigs of thyme, leaves removed from stems

Juice of half a lemon

Zest of one lemon

Salt and pepper

1 egg, beaten

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

Olive oil and white balsamic vinegar

About 10 mint leaves

Fresh parmesan, grated

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

2. Lay a piece of parchment paper on a baking tray. Place the pastry sheet onto the parchment and cut into 4 squares. Score a 1-inch border around the edge of each square and prick once in the middle with a fork.

3. Mix the ricotta with lemon juice, half the zest, thyme, salt, and pepper. Spread the ricotta mixture evenly inside the border of each square. Note that you may not use it all. Top each square with a few pieces of asparagus on the diagonal. Sprinkle with remaining lemon zest and season with freshly ground pepper. 

4. Brush the borders of each tart with the beaten egg, then bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden.

5. Place peas in a small bowl and drizzle with olive oil and white balsamic; toss to combine and season with salt and pepper. Top the cooked tarts with the peas, then finish with mint leaves, a bit of grated Parmesan, and additional lemon zest if desired. 

-Recipe & images by Lauren Craig