Seasonal Sunday--Asparagus & Chevre Mille-Feuille

As you all know, I love to cook. And I love to read cookbooks too. I'm one of those people who has a cookbook on my bedside table along with a novel and magazines.It makes sense then that one of the ways I like to work on my French is to read a cooking magazine that I buy at the grocery store every two weeks. It is full of great, doable recipes as well as a two week menu plan if you ever need extra inspiration. It's called Vie Pratique Gourmand if you're interested in finding it for yourself.

I found today's recipe in issue 213. It originally calls for courgettes (zucchini to we Americans) and I made it that way first. It was so delicious that even the kids ate it and they usually won't touch courgettes.
I had some fresh asparagus hanging around the other day so decided to try the recipe with it. It worked too. You could adapt this recipe in so many ways as long as you keep it light--it doesn't need oil or extra sauce and is beautiful in its simplicity. And no salt either because the goat cheese is salty enough on its own.

Mille-feuille literally means a thousand leaves; pretty, huh? It's called this because of the delicate filo pastry you use to make this looks like stacked crunchy leaves separated by vegetables and softly oozing goat cheese. In France this pastry is called Brick and you can find it in the refrigerated pastry section of any grocery store. But at home you should look for filo dough. It's what's used to make Greek dishes like spanakopita.

I hope you like it. It is a simple and impressive vegetarian dish to add to your repetoire.

Mille-Feuille of Asparagus & Chevre
210C/410F

8 leaves of Brick or Filo pastry
bunch of fresh green asparagus
1 tablespoon of butter, melted
1 log of goat cheese with rind--it melts better than the softer, rindless salad cheeses
fresh black pepper

Cut the pastry leaves into 4ths with kitchen scissors or a pizza cutter. Each stack of fourths will be one mille-feuille.
Wash, trim and cut the asparagus into bite-sized pieces and then boil for 8 minutes. Immediately plunge into a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking and keep it bright green.
Cut the goat cheese into rounds.
Melt the butter and get ready to assemble.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and make each mille-feuille directly onto it.
Put two leaves of pastry down for the base.

Then layer the asparagus and goat cheese on top of them. Add two more pastry leaves and brush the edges with the butter.

{i used soft goat cheese without a rind here}

Add one more layer of veg and cheese and then finish with the last four leaves, brushing each with a bit of the butter as you go.
And that's it. Super simple. Do that for all four and then cook them for 10 minutes in an oven preheated to 210C/410F.

Serve with a green salad for a perfect lunch or with a roast chicken for a bigger meal.