ASPARAGUS AND GUBBEEN CHORIZO TART
This is not a post where I tell you my life story, or even someone else’s. This is a post where I teach you how to make a simple dish. It’s a tart but it has a bit of a quiche twist so read the ingredients carefully.
You can do this meal simply and functionally and then you can elevate it into something a lot more elegant and that will take a fairly well stocked kitchen or a bit more of an investment. There is no right or wrong. Both are good and both work depending what you’re looking to achieve.
If you remember this whole cauliflower baked in smoked gubbeen cheese sauce, you will already know that I am keen on the output of the Ferguson family’s smoking house. To my taste it is the best chorizo available widely in Ireland. You will find it in most supervalu and independent stores.
This made a smallish tart, not quite the full size quiche dish but a perfect one for two with left overs. I served it with a green salad with a zingy dressing and lots of thinly sliced onions.
Ingredients for basic tart
- One roll of ready made shortcrust pastry
- Two large/jumbo eggs or three small/ medium ones
- One heaped tablespoon of creme fraiche
- Six to ten thin slices of chorizo
- One handful of grated emmental cheese (or similar mild and melty cheese)
- One packet of asparagus
Ingredients for souped up tart
- For the pastry you need: 150 g plain flour, 75 g unsalted butter, 0.5 teaspoon of salt (or none if you used salted butter), 50 g of cold water
- Use a bunch of local asparagus if you can. Drummond house post theirs out all over Ireland.
- Six to ten slices of gubbeen chorizo
- Two large/jumbo eggs or three small/ medium ones (I used Butlers eggs at the moment but I love Magners eggs too and always go for free range at the very minimum). The happier the hens, the tastier the eggs.
- One heaped tablespoon of creme fraiche
- A lick of the Sea Hare tamarind sauce, it’s found more and more easily around Ireland and you should seek it out if you can. It is delicious. If you can’t find this, a lick of marmite will do the trick, you want something a bit sour and yeasty so at a push I would use gochujang but very sparingly.
- One teaspoon of white miso
Method for the basic tart
- Preheat your oven to 180 C.
- Mold the pastry to the dish and fork the bottom. Place it in the fridge while the oven is heating up.
- Once the oven is ready, cut the woody part of the asparagus and the slice the chorizo slices in to three. Place the asparagus in the dish and sprinkle the chorizo bits everywhere.
- In a side bowl, beat the eggs and cream until they are mixed. You want to bring a fair bit of air into so you get a lovely souffle effect. Add the grated cheese and pour evenly over the asparagus. It is absolutely fine if they are not fully covered. In fact, I think it looks quite smart!
- Bang it into the oven for about 20 min or a bit more until your pastry is golden and cooked through.
Method for the souped up tart
- Assemble the pastry ingredients (a good trick is to freeze the butter and then grate it in the flour before bringing it together with the water). You don’t want to handle the pastry too much so if you can use a blender and if not just mix it, put it into a ball and then stick it into the fridge for a good hour before you use it.
- Once the pastry is nice and chilled, roll it out and mold it to your tart dish and fork the bottom as usual.
- Brush the bottom of the pastry with the Sea Hare tamarind sauce or whatever you are using there.
- Once the oven is ready, cut the woody part of the asparagus and the slice the chorizo slices in to three. Place the asparagus in the dish and sprinkle the chorizo bits everywhere.
- In a side bowl, beat the eggs, cream and miso until they are mixed. You want to bring a fair bit of air into so you get a lovely souffle effect. Add the grated cheese and pour evenly over the asparagus. It is absolutely fine if they are not fully covered. In fact, I think it looks quite smart!
- Bang it into the oven for about 20 min or a bit more until your pastry is golden and cooked through.