Three-ingredient Asparagus Tartlets

Take the pastry out of the freezer to defrost. While it’s coming to room temperature, prepare and cook the asparagus tips. I snip mine into three pieces and griddle for around 8 minutes with a little seasoning and olive oil. You’ll know it’s ready when it’s juicy, tender and slightly chargrilled.

Use tongs to remove the asparagus from the pan, and keep the cooking liquid – you can use this to brush the tart cases.

Once the pastry has defrosted, roll it out to a flat rectangle (around 0.5cm thick and 16cm x 10cm) and use a sharp knife to divide it into four portions. Remove these from the original paper, which will be quite soggy by now, and space them a few centimetres apart on a new piece of greaseproof paper on a baking sheet.

Carefully draw a smaller rectangle around 1.5cm inside the edge of each tartlet, scoring and not cutting through the pastry. This marks the inner area where the filling will go – the edges will puff up in the oven. Dip a pastry brush in the oil left in the pan and brush it over the pastry rectangles.

Grate the cheese, and pile even portions in the inner rectangle of each tartlet.

Arrange the asparagus on top, splitting it equally between the tartlets.

Put the tartlets in the fridge for 10 minutes to firm up. While they do, preheat the oven to 195°C/175°C fan.

Bake the tartlets for 35 minutes, or until the pastry is puffed up and golden. Use a fish slice to take each one off the baking sheet. They make a delicious starter, served hot or cold with a few green leaves on the side.