Asparagus Puffs

I know I'm supposed to be showing you my garden progress today, but my sister Justine and I made Asparagus Puffs last night, and they were delicious.  I'm super excited, so I decided that I'd share this instead.  The garden can wait until tomorrow...  Observe...


Asparagus Puffs

Ingredients:
puff pastry, asparagus, red onion, goat cheese, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil

Photo Credit: Justine

First, cut the red onion into rings and saute in a saucepan with 1 tbsp olive oil until soft.

Photo Credit: Justine

Add 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar and stir to coat.  Set aside.

Photo Credit: Justine

Next, unroll the puff pastry and cut into squares.  You can buy puff pastry in the frozen section of the grocery store by all the pre-made crusts.  Use the parchment paper it comes in to line the baking sheet you put the squares on.

Photo Credit: Justine

Spread about 2 tbsp of goat cheese onto the puff pastry, leaving about a 1/2 inch border around the edges.  We did 1 inch because that's what the recipe said, but upon eating the finished product, we determined that less of a border would work just fine.  Also, for the record, goat cheese is hard to spread.

Photo Credit: Justine

Next, break the woody ends off the asparagus, and then cut each stalk in half.  Place on the goat cheese.  (Check out the picture; I don't know how to explain this any better.)

Photo Credit: Justine

Top with a few of the onions that were cooked earlier.

Photo Credit: Justine

Bake at 400 F for 20 minutes and enjoy!

Photo Credit: Justine

These were amazingly delicious and would make a great appetizer for any dinner party.  We decided that one puff per person is plenty, as we had two each and ended up quite stuffed.  The onions add incredible flavour, although we decided we might sprinkle on a bit of salt and pepper next time for a bit of added taste.

For dessert, we had strawberries soaked in white wine, but that's a recipe to share for another day...  (And yes, I'm just going to leave you hanging with that...)