Food & Drink

SWE-Dishes: SwedishFood.com’s Asparagus and Smoked Salmon Tart

Today, we bring you a tasty savory tart from SwedishFood.com.

The recipe has been adapted from Maud Onnermark of Mat Magasinet (The Food Magazine), which is one of Sweden’s best food magazines.

Tarts are a great option for spring: not too heavy, but hearty enough for a meal. In this version, asparagus and salmon pair perfectly with dill, a quintessentially Swedish herb. For a light dinner, serve it with a mixed salad topped with thinly sliced fennel.

Tips

• Choose a mild smoked salmon to avoid overpowering the asparagus.
• If you want to reduce the fat content use Philadelphia Lightest instead of the Light version. It is not quite as easy to incorporate, but the taste and texture is still good.
• The original recipe used 5 tablespoons of dill and 5 of chives. Our tasters thought there was too much dill, but feel free to try it for strong Swedish flavor.
• The original recipe added salt to the cheese mixture, but our tasters thought there was enough salt in the smoked salmon that it doesn’t need any more.

Ingredients

• Package (9+ oz.) chilled puff pastry, ready rolled
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 7 oz. light Philadelphia cheese
• 2 tbsp. dill, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp. chives, finely chopped
• Freshly ground white pepper to taste
• 14 oz. green asparagus
• Olive oil
• 7 oz. smoked salmon, sliced

Method

1. Take the pastry out of the fridge approximately 10 minutes before you will need to unroll it. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Unroll the puff pastry, and lay it on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. It should be at least 8” x 12” but no more than 14” x 10”.
3. Use a sharp knife to mark a 1” border round the sheet, cutting halfway through the pastry. Brush the edge of the pastry with beaten egg, reserving the rest for the filling. Bake the case for 10 minutes, until the pastry begins to turn golden brown.
4. Meanwhile, mix the cheese, dill, chives and egg then season to taste with freshly ground white pepper.
5. Trim the ends off the asparagus spears, and discard the woody bits (or keep for soup). Toss the spears lightly in oil.
6. Cut around the inside edge of the pastry frame with a sharp knife, and lightly press the pastry down inside the frame the middle, taking care not to spoil the frame.
7. Add the smoked salmon, then pour in the cheese mixture and finally add the oiled asparagus spears. Bake in the bottom half of the oven for 20-25 minutes until the filling is set.
8. Leave to cool for a couple of minutes, and then serve with a mixed salad garnished with thinly sliced fennel.

John Duxbury enjoys cooking Swedish food and went to the trouble of learning Swedish so he could read Swedish cookbooks. The love affair with Swedish food started as a result of numerous visits to Sweden when he was working with Swedish students. When he retired from teaching he decided to set up http://www.swedishfood.com so other people with an interest in Swedish cooking could benefit from his work.