Asparagus, potato & filo pastry tart

It was Sunday and I was getting myself ready for a gym session. I had my TV on and there was an old series of Jamie Oliver (Jamie at home). He was wandering around his perfect garden (just reminding me that our garden would probably win the competition for the ugliest garden in the Dales), full of herbs and veg. Asparagus! So I sat in my chair and wondered what interesting Jamie will make.

He made such incredible and easy to make tart that before I got to the gym I had to go to the shop and buy missing ingredient - filo pastry (that was not my favourite since I tried it once and it did not turned out to be a fabulous meal). When I came back I made this tart immediately probably putting twice as much calories into my body that I managed to burnt, but never mind. Tomorrow is a new day and I can always go to the gym again.

This is recipe after a slight alteration.

Serves 2-4

I used rectangular loose bottom tart tin 35x13x2.5cm

5 sheets of filo pastry (bigger than your baking tin, so it overhangs the edges)

about 30g of butter, melted

about 15 green asparagus spears, wooden bottoms removed

4 medium potatoes

handful of mature cheddar, coarsely grated

about 180ml double cream

1 egg

freshly ground black pepper

freshly ground nutmeg

salt

Peel the potatoes and boil in the salted water until tender. Drain, add cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg and mash. Next add cheddar and egg and mix well. The filling is quite loose.

Meanwhile blanch your asparagus in a separate pan of salted boiling water for 3 minutes, then drain and place in a bowl of cold water. When they cooled down completely, drain again and pat dry.

Heat the oven to 190C (fan). Layer the sheets of filo pastry in the dish, brushing them with melted butter as you go and letting some pastry hang over the edge of the dish. You want to get the pastry five layers thick.

Spread the mashed potato over the filo pastry, level with a spatula, then bring up the sides of the filo and scrunch them together to form a rim for a rustic look. Take the asparagus and line it up across the filling. Brush all over with the remaining melted butter and pop into the oven for around 20 minutes. I use the grill for about 3 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.