An easy savory tart made with a 6 ingredient gluten-free, grain-free, vegan crust topped with vegan ricotta cheese, fresh asparagus, shallots, chives, and microgreens.
Now that I’ve mastered making vegan ricotta cheese at home, I’m diving into all the fancy savory eats that are both simple, yet trick your guests into thinking you’ve started taking professional culinary classes. Not only does this Asparagus Shallot Tart look the part, I think you’ll be adding it to your menu all summer long because it’s just that easy to make.
The tart crust is so flaky and tender, just as a tart shell should be- you’d never guess it’s gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free, and even grain-free! It’s the perfect combination of coconut, almond, and cassava flour mixed with two flax eggs, and coconut oil. There’s no pre-baking involved either! You simply make your tart dough, roll (or even press) it out, spread some vegan ricotta cheese over top and then you decide how to pile on the fresh asparagus and shallot- pretty design optional but recommended 😉 .
The idea for this Asparagus Shallot Tart came about when I started ordering fresh, I mean pick-it-from-the-garden-while-you’re-there-picking-it-up kinda fresh, produce from a local family farm here in Columbus. A sweet husband and wife run the farm and do such hard work to produce such amazing, quality, organic, untreated produce! The wife is a preschool teacher at my son’s school and when Corona hit, they really went full force into it again, and boy am I glad because their crop is top-notch. And of course, I am happy to support local too! Anywho-this particular week they had asparagus and I jumped on it!
I’m normally a sweet tart (no not the candy kind) of gal, but this Asparagus Shallot Tart might just swing me to the savory side for a while. You can make it any shape you’d like too- so channel your inner artist and go ahead, play with your food, I won’t tell your momma, haha.
I love asparagus roasted or grilled with olive oil, lemon, and vegan parmesan cheese as a side dish too, but this asparagus was so gorgeous it deserved the spotlight. I suppose you could even have this savory tart as breakfast too… it kind of has a quiche-like texture and taste. If you’re not fully vegan, then shoot- some eggs on this tart would be fantastic!
The micro greens are optional as well, but they’re just so darn pretty… helllllooo purple! I had to add them on. You can just opt to garnish with chives in addition to or in place of the micro greens if you’re looking for the perfect herb.
This Asparagus Shallot Tart serves 4-6 people, depending on how hungry you are, and it could definitely serve more as an appetizer, although I would highly suggest serving this beauty as the main course. To make this recipe even easier, you can certainly buy vegan ricotta cheese, but it’s hard to find and my recipe is so easy I really suggest making your own… besides, more bragging rights… bonus!
Don’t forget to leave a review/comment and tag me on Instagram or Facebook with all your gorgeous Asparagus Shallot Tart creations!
Asparagus Shallot Tart
An easy savory tart made with a 6 ingredient gluten-free, grain-free, vegan crust topped with vegan ricotta cheese, fresh asparagus, shallots, chives, and microgreens.
Ingredients
Tart Crust
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 3/4 cup cassava flour
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 flax eggs (2 tablespoons flaxseed meal + 3 tablespoons water)
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, softened
- 1/2 cup water
Vegan Ricotta Cheese
- 2.5 cups blanched almonds
- 2.5 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 can coconut milk (solid part only)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Toppings
- 2 bunches asparagus
- 3 large shallots
- olive oil, for drizzling
- microgreens (optional)
- chives
- salt + pepper, to taste
Instructions
Ricotta Cheese
- The day before, make your vegan ricotta cheese. You will want to soak your almonds overnight, or alternatively you can boil them for 15 minutes.
- Drain and rinse the almonds then add to a high-speed blender/food processor.
- Add the other ingredients to the blender also, making sure to only spoon the solid cream part of the coconut milk into the blender.
- Blend on high until it's very smooth and creamy with no almond chunks left. Stop and scrape down the sides as needed.
- Lay out a kitchen towel and then add a few large pieces of paper towel over top of the kitchen towel.
- Spoon the ricotta cheese onto a few large pieces of paper towel, then wrap it all up and let it set up in the fridge overnight. Alternatively, you can use cheesecloth if you have it.
- Any leftover ricotta can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Tart Crust
- In a small bowl, make your flax eggs by stirring together the flaxseed meal and water and letting the flax eggs "gel up" while you do the next step.
- In a large bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients together.
- Next, add the softened coconut oil and flax eggs and stir.
- Add water 1 tablespoon at a time until your dough sticks together- I used 3 tablespoons, but please do this 1 tablespoon at a time.
- On a parchment-lined baking sheet, roll or spread out the dough with your hands in whatever shape you'd like, keeping the crust about 1 inch thick throughout.
Making the Tart
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Gently spread some ricotta over top, leaving a border around the edges as you would making pizza. If the dough is too fragile, use your hands to spread the ricotta.
- Wash and trim the asparagus, then in a single layer, spread the asparagus out over the ricotta cheese.
- Cut the shallot however desired and spread over top.
- Drizzle olive oil over the entire tart.
- Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.
- Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the asparagus looks tender and cooked.
**NOTE: use medium thickness asparagus stalks. Too thin they will cook too quickly and too thick they won't cook enough - Remove from oven and let it cool slightly before garnishing with microgreens and chives.
- Slice and serve!
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