Savour the Flavours of Childhood with Asparagus and Queso Blanco tart

Embrace the asparagus season in Australia.

Queso blanco or queso fresco is a Latin and Mexican cheese traditionally made from raw cow milk. It is snowy white, creamy but not too rich.

I am a Latin girl and I grew up eating sliced thick slabs of this cheese tossed or crumbled with savoury and sweet dishes. Every bite of this cheese reminds me of my childhood, I do hope all my followers will fall in love with it.

Ingredients

• 200 grams or 2 sheets ready made puff pastry
• 500 grams asparagus
• 2 baby zucchini or courgettes, thinly sliced lengthways (use a Mandolin if you have one)
• 250 grams queso blanco ( Cottage cheese)
• 1 egg
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoon of cooking cream
• The juice of half a lemon
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

• Preheat the oven to 200C
• Blanch the asparagus in boiling salted water for 5 minutes. Drain them.
• Chop 4 or 5 of the spears. Cut the rest in half lengthways.
• Blitz or blend the chopped asparagus, garlic, egg, cream, Parmesan cheese and the queso blanco in a blender until smooth. Flavour with lemon juice, salt and pepper.

• Roll out the pastry in your baking tray (round or square). Cut off 2 cm from each side and place on top of the pastry to make a thicker rim. Brush with the olive oil.
• Spread the blended cheese and asparagus mix over the pastry . Top with the courgettes and the asparagus.

• Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with a spoon of olive oil.
• Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.

• Serve with Parmesan shavings and a simple green salad on the side.

Tips

• Queso Blanco is a difficult cheese to find in the supermarkets in Australia. A good substitute will be Cottage cheese or mild Feta.
• Look for this cheese in Latin or Mexican supermarkets.