A beautiful Thanksgiving side dish that's great any time

It's been a bit chilly for two whole days here in Florida, but I found myself already thinking about Spring this morning. I love Spring vegetables, especially asparagus - which the rest of the family can't stand.
Finding myself alone at home, I thought I'd take advantage of the freedom to cook exclusively for me and went down to the market and bought some early season asparagus. Ah, the wonders of modern farming technology.
I wanted to come up with a recipe that would be pretty on your Thanksgiving table if you like my favorite stalky vegetable and something that would make a tasty brunch for me.
The result of my experiment combines my favorites asparagus and mushrooms with a creamy Hollandaise Sauce that I think helps make any dish just a little more festive. Having a bit of puff pastry left over from a recent recipe, I was able to pull the whole thing together in a beautiful package worthy of any table - holiday or not.
If you like asapargus, whip this up the night before your Thanksgiving feast and just reheat it while you're making your last minute table preparations. I promise it'll be a hit.

Creamy Asparagus and Mushrooms in Puff Pastry



1/2 cup butter
2 bunches fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces
6 cloves garlic, diced
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
1 cup prepared hollandaise sauce (I used the powdered stuff for this recipe or you can make a batch from scratch)
1 package frozen puff pastry, thawed

  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  • Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the asparagus, and cook for about 10 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms and garlic; cook and stir until the mushrooms are tender. Set aside.
  • Prepare the hollandaise sauce according to package directions. Stir into the asparagus and mushrooms.
  • Lay one sheet of puff pastry out flat in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish, letting any extra dough go up the sides. Spread the asparagus mixture evenly over the dough. Top with the other sheet of pastry, and pinch the edges together to seal.
  • Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until pastry is golden.
  • Cool for a few minutes before slicing.
    Vegetarian.

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