Revisiting the Past

Asparagus Tart

In 2005 I started a blog called Artisan Sweets. Three years later that blog turned into Not Without Salt, where I continued to share recipes and stories from our table and life in food until July 2021. The last post on that site is a recipe that now lives in my latest cookbook, Rooted Kitchen. It’s a roast of lamb that slowly roasts over open fire while resting on a bed of foraged branches and greens and is then served with a charred apricot compote spiced with ginger, cumin, cinnamon, and chili. In the book I replace the apricots with rhubarb, spiced similarly. Either way it’s lovely. I didn’t mean for it to be my last post but I also think I knew I had been shifting away from that space for a long time. I wasn’t the same person that started blogging 20 (?!!?!?!! how is that possible?!?!) years ago and in some ways it felt disingenuous to continue to pretend that space felt like home.  

I’m going to spare you all the details and really it is my husband, Gabe, that has been doing the dirty work, but the site (notwithoutsalt.com) has been pretty non-functioning for quite awhile. Many of you have emailed me about recipes you searched for and found a 404 message instead. Honestly, as frustrating as it’s been, those messages have meant the world to me. It’s not that I’m delighting in your frustration but you reaching out means that there are recipes I wrote many years ago that continue to live in your kitchens. And in this work, that is so often very solitary (and I’m not saying that as a bad thing), it is just so utterly delightful to know that something that I made in my kitchen, something that brought me joy, found its way to you and your kitchen. 

When I tell the story of how I came to be doing the work I am doing, I often credit the blog for giving me the space to play; with food, with photography, with writing and with recipe development. When I tell the story of my life I often credit the blog with giving me a place to explore myself; how I felt as a new mother, and then a mother of three, a wife, and for giving me a community when I desperately needed it. To this day many of my closest friends came from baring a bit of my soul on the internet. 

The other day, while searching for a recipe one of you was missing, I stumbled upon a post about cookies. It’s not THEE cookie, but it looks slightly similar, although from the photos on the site it looks like a recipe from my grandma’s handwritten collection. I would share it here but for some reason the recipe is missing (ugh). Anyway, tears filled my eyes while I read:

“We women try so hard to do it all and fool everyone into thinking we have it all together when we would do better to serve one another by sharing our struggles. When I’ve done this I have found great freedom and help as often I am not the only one feeling this way. Not that I want others to struggle as I do but there is comfort in not being alone and we can work together to ease the burden.” I continued to cry as I read the 107 comments. Words that echoed a message of, “I see you, I hear you and wow, those cookies!” And of course there was the occasional, “I followed this recipe exactly as written but my cookies didn’t look like yours.” 

I found my voice through writing and was met with a community that supported me. If you were among those that found me through Not Without Salt and you are still here, there are not enough words for me to express my gratitude. You all have held me through some incredibly hard days, whether you knew it or not. And because of you, I have found this work. It has shifted as I have, but I know that this is what I am here to do. This paying attention to the delights of the mundane, following the curiosities and creative impulses, and bringing you all along on the journey. And there is still so much I want to share, which is why I created this newsletter. This is the place I want to call home. 

Not Without Salt is still so much a part of me. While I may cringe at some of the photos that still live there, I feel nothing but pride for that woman who opened her chest and let her heart spill out into the world. She found herself and a community in the process. But the reality is that keeping that site online has been a huge expense and an even bigger headache. One that I’m no longer willing to deal with. We’re figuring out a way to save the content before we close the doors and my plan is to revisit some of my all time favorite recipes and to share them here.  

There is something poetic about all of this; a chance to revisit the recipes that led me to where I am but make them fit into this current version of myself. A sort of “this is your life” told through butter, sugar, and salt. The recipe I want to share today was written in 2011 by a young mama who was trying to figure out her place in motherhood and now she’s contemplating life after her three teens all flit away to continue to find their own way. The recipe is simple Asparagus Tart that I recently revisited for a segment I did for our local news station. I updated it to reflect my current delight in wild foods, which I foraged on a recent adventure in the woods (with a dear friend I met through the blog!)

It’s an uncomplicated tart, made even more simple if you buy the puff pastry. On top of the puff a quick sauce made of mascarpone and cream with grated garlic, salt and pepper is spread on before asparagus is added for the Not Without Salt classic, or add to it other foraged greens and fungi such as nettles, blanched fiddleheads, maple blossoms, dandelion greens, onion grass, and morels. Once out of the oven and cooled, finish the tart with shavings of Parmesan and roughly chopped walnuts, if you so desire. 

Asparagus Tart

serves 6 to 8

1 bunch asparagus (about 1 lb)

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ batch quick puff (or store-bought puff)

¼ cup Mascarpone

¼ cup heavy cream

1 large clove garlic, minced

½ cup walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped

Parmesan

pinch pepper flakes

salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 415*F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Roll the puff to a rough 8x12 inch rectangle. Trim off the uneven edges. Carefully place the puff onto the baking sheet and chill in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

In a small bowl combine the Mascarpone, cream, garlic, pepper flakes, and a hefty pinch of salt and pepper.

Remove the woody part of the asparagus by taking one spear and carefully bending until it snaps. Using that spear as your guide cut the remaining asparagus where your guide snapped. In a medium bowl toss the asparagus with 1 tablespoon olive oil.

Remove your puff from the fridge and top with the Mascarpone mixture leaving a 1” border around the entire tart. On top of the Mascarpone lay the asparagus, one right next to the other. Sprinkle the top with a fine sea salt and put in the oven. After the first 20 minutes of baking reduce the heat to 350*F and continue to bake for another 20 to 30 minutes, until baked through.

Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. Just before serving, top with toasted walnuts and shaved Parmesan. Serve warm or at room temperature.

*To make this a foraged spring tart simply add whatever delightful foraged items you have on hand. I added blanched fiddleheads, nettles, onion grass, rehydrated morels from last season, and maple blossoms. Bake as directed.