Sunday Supper: Asparagus and Potato Tart

Potato and asparagus tart.

In the spirit of thrift - and these days, that's the name of the game - today's offering, Asparagus and Potato Tart, combines leftover supplies from two previous Sunday Supper offerings; potatoes (From the Indian Stew) and phyllo (filo) dough (from the Veggie Quiche). Thank you to Adam's sister-in-law, Madelen, for reading the blog and passing along this Foodnetwork recipe. It was a huge hit, and I've been eating the leftovers for days.

My adaptation and notes for this very easy and wonderfully filling dish:

Ingredients
-3-4 nice sized Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes. I left the skins on for fiber.
-Sea salt
-1 pound asparagus, ends trimmed
-20 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
-Sesame seeds, to taste
-1/2 cup melted soy margarine
-1/2 cup shredded cheddar
-1/2 cup mozzarella (NOTE: I subbed this in for Lancashire cheese. See notes below for more detail)
-3 eggs
-8 oz. soy milk
-1/2 Tbs. nutmeg
-Freshly ground pepper
-Two sliced Roma tomatoes

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and add potatoes. Cook for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, blanch asparagus in a separate pan for four minutes and drain in a colander.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Lightly grease a glass pan. I used a lasagna size, but a round pan also would work. Layer the sheets of phyllo pastry, lightly covering with melted butter and sprinkling with sesame seeds as you go. Allow about one inch to hang over the edge. Create a crust that is 5-6 sheets thick. Set aside.

When potatoes are tender enough to poke easily with a fork, drain them and put into a large mixing bowl. Smash with the cheeses. In a second dish, mix together eggs and milk and stir into potato blend. Sprinkle with nutmeg and pepper, and mix well. Pour the mix into the phyllo shell and bring the sides up to form a rim.

Line the top of the pie with the asparagus and tomato slices. Spread the remaining butter across the top. Bake for 25 minutes, or until crisp. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Tips:

Use the right cheeses! I used mozzarella instead of Lancashire, and I have no doubt this impacted the flavor. Unfortunately, the not-as-great Publix closest to my home has a mediocre cheese selection, and Lancashire is most certainly not in their arsenal. I thought about Emmenthaler, but at $7.89 for the smallest chunk, it defeated the whole "budget" concept that I was going for. I should have chosen Swiss, or a sharp cheddar, at the very least. A strong cheese makes the difference in this pie, and mozzarella certainly is not strong.

Despite a disappointing showing from the cheeses - which, actually is OK, seeing as I don't dig on cheese too much these days - this pie was nothing, if not delicious. The nutmeg and crispy sesame crust are key. The addition of tomatoes to the recipe also was a good call (pat on back).

We served this with a nice salad (avocado, pine nuts, feta, romaine, carrot) and later, key lime frozen yogurt.