Asparagus Napoleons with Goat Cheese, Chives, Lemon Zest

I love puff pastry.  If you keep some in your freezer, you can make a lot of great things with very little notice. It only takes about 30-40 minutes to thaw and is so versatile.  Napoleons are usually desserts made with squares or rectangles of puff pastry and layered with pastry cream and fruit.  I'm going to show you how to make savory asparagus napoleons but you can make napoleons with any filling you like.  Get creative.  I'm using asparagus because it's in season here now.

Napoleons are great as a first coarse because they make such nice single servings.  

Asparagus Napoleans with Goat Cheese, Chives, Lemon Zest

for a printable recipe, click here

serves 6

Ingredients:

• 1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed about 40 minutes at room temperature

• 1 egg, beaten with about 2 teaspoons water

• 24 asparagus spears, cut to a length of about 6 inches

• 2 tablespoons olive oil 

• salt, pepper

• 8 ounces goat cheese at room temperature

• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives plus 12 chive sprigs for garnish

• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

• 2 tablespoons honey

• large pinch of coarse salt  

Instructions:

Bake Puff Pastry Rectangles:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Lay the thawed puff pastry on a lightly floured surface.  When you unfold the puff pastry, the sections between the fold lines should be about 3 inches wide each. The measurement the other way should be about 10 inches - if it isn't, you can take a rolling pin and lightly roll it out a little. The whole sheet should be about 9x10 inches.  Take a pizza cutter or knife and cut right down the two fold lines and then once down the entire length of the pastry sheet - you will have 6 rectangles of about 3x5 inches each.  Don't fret too much about the measurements - they should just be uniform.

Place the rectangles of puff pastry on a sheet of parchment paper (or a Silpat) on a baking sheet. Brush the tops with a little of the egg wash.  Bake for about 10 minutes or until the pastry is nice and golden. Place baked pastry rectangles on a cooling rack.

Roast Asparagus:

Remove the parchment paper or Silpat from baking sheet. Line with foil.  Place asparagus spears on sheet, drizzle with a little olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast at 400 degrees F for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Make Filling:

In a small bowl, mix soft goat cheese, chives, lemon zest, honey and salt.  

Assemble Napoleons:

Slice each puff pastry rectangle horizontally. Divide filling between the six bottom sections.  Place asparagus spears on top of filling and place puff pastry tops on. Garnish with chive sprigs.  

tip:  I love this little gadget .  It's nice when you have to measure just a tablespoon or two of honey.

Other asparagus recipes:  Asparagus Frittata and Asparagus Risotto