Crab and Asparagus Tart

Name: Crab and Asparagus Tart
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups flour, more for rolling; Salt; 1/2 teaspoon cayenne; 7 tablespoons unsalted butter; 4 large eggs; 1 tablespoon minced shallot; 1/2 bunch medium asparagus, ends snapped, halved vertically and cut into 1-inch pieces; 8 ounces lump crab meat; 1 tablespoon lemon juice; 1 tablespoon minced chervil; 3/4 cup half-and-half; 4 ounces soft goat cheese

By Florence Fabricant

Total Time: 1½ hours
Rating: 4(57)
Notes: Read community notes

A savory tart, its silky custard thickly studded with crab meat to pick up the sweetness of the wines, and asparagus to tame tropical fruit and citrus flavors with vegetal, mineral notes and a hint of bitterness, will make for a lovely lunch or a predinner snack. Come summer, some diced zucchini can replace the asparagus. It also delivers a kick, not in the filling but in the pastry. There’s no heat from the subdued alcohol in the bottle. The cayenne in the crust makes up for it.

Featured in: A German Riesling That Embodies Spring

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Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings

For the Crab and Asparagus Tart

1¼cups flour, more for rolling
Salt
½teaspoon cayenne
7tablespoons unsalted butter
4large eggs
1tablespoon minced shallot
½bunch medium asparagus, ends snapped, halved vertically and cut into 1-inch pieces
8ounces lump crab meat
1tablespoon lemon juice
1tablespoon minced chervil
¾cup half-and-half
4ounces soft goat cheese

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

For the Crab and Asparagus Tart
1. Step 1
  Heat oven to 400 degrees. Whisk flour, ½ teaspoon salt and cayenne in a bowl or blend in a food processor. Add 6 tablespoons of butter and cut in or pulse until size of peas. Beat 1 egg with 2 tablespoons ice water, scatter on flour mixture and mix with a fork or pulse until a dough can be gathered together. Add a little more water if needed. Form into a disk and roll on a lightly floured surface, then lay it into a 9-inch straight-sided tart pan.
2. Step 2
  Trim edges, line with foil and weight with pastry weights or dry beans. Bake 10 minutes, until it starts to look dry. Remove foil and weights and bake 10 to 15 minutes more, until lightly browned. Remove from oven. Reduce heat to 350 degrees.
3. Step 3
  Melt remaining butter in a skillet over medium heat, add shallot and cook 1 minute. Add asparagus and cook about 2 minutes, until they start to soften. Remove from heat. Fold in crab meat, lemon juice and chervil. Season with salt. Spread in pastry.
4. Step 4
  Whisk half-and-half and cheese until smooth. Beat in remaining eggs until well blended. Pour over crab and asparagus, place in oven and bake about 40 minutes, until set and lightly browned. Let cool 15 minutes, remove sides of pan and serve at once or cooled to room temperature.

Ratings

4 out of 5

57 user ratings

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Theresa3 years ago

The crust is simple and outstanding; I used the food processor, and it took less time than thawing a frozen crust. I had very thick asparagus, but didn’t peel it because of the vertical slicing the recipe called for. Came out great and much less waste. This was a jam-packed tart. Beautiful and delicious. I used a pottery tart dish, which doesn’t separate, but had no problem removing the tart. I do love Florence’s recipes. (I think this would feed eight only if five were dead.)

CDReader2 years ago

This was spectacular. Great flavor and looked beautiful too. The only change I made was to chill the dough a bit. I did it more out of habit than anything else and it rolled nicely and was nice and flaky. I loved the note about the portions. I agree to 3 people max because everyone will want two pieces.

Marli3 years ago

I grow asparagus. I see many sizes at the store. I wish there was a weight OR volume on this. Bunches vary too much.

Theresa3 years ago

Addition to my just-submitted note: I always swap out half the ice water with chilled vodka in crust recipes, in this case using 1 Tablespoon each. The alcohol bakes out and there’s no added flavor, but it makes for easy rolling.

kay3 years ago

How interesting Theresa...I've never heard of that. Will have to give it a go.

Theresa3 years ago

Stephanie4 years ago

I used a store bought pie crust and broccoli in place of asparagus. Was very good. I have fluted tarte pans and used one but lost some egg out the bottom during baking - so make sure you have one with a good seal. It was very good. Great proportions.

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