I had big dreams of making a Springdell Asparagus Risotto this evening. Given my two year-old’s early nap, preparing for the Strawberry Festival, and many errands, finding the time to tend to a risotto was just not happening today. I decided into keep it a little simpler, and as we all know, when working with fresh local ingredients, tasty need not be complicated.
Tartine is a great word. It makes what I’m about to cook sound awfully fancy. In reality, a tartine is nothing more than an open-faced sandwich.
I started with my pre-blanched fiddleheads, about half of the bag from the pre-season share. I picked out the 6 prettiest ones, and chopped the rest. I took 2 slices of some quality bread (there is some great bread from Nashoba Brook Bakery at the Springdell farmstand) and drizzled it lightly with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I then rubbed them with about 1/2 clove of minced garlic.
They went under the broiler for a minute or two (depending on the broiler) until just starting to sizzle and crisp a bit. Meanwhile, 4 eggs and a splash of cream (milk works too) were beaten before adding the chopped fiddleheads and almost 1/4 cup of freshly grated Parmesan.
I cooked it in a frying pan until the eggs were done. The eggs topped my crusty bread and the whole fiddleheads topped the eggs. A sprinkle with coarse salt and fresh pepper as desired, and that’s all there is to it!
The tartine would be fabulous drizzled with Hollandaise. Were it not Meatless Monday, I might even consider a drizzle of Down and Dirty Giblet Gravy.
The version I made for the kids was in a flour tortilla with mozzarella cheese. You gotta love Fiddlehead Quesadillas!
- 1/4 pound blanched fiddleheads, 6 reserved for garnish, the rest coarsely chopped
- 2 slices hearty bread
- 1/2 clove minced garlic
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 cup cream
- Coarse salt and ground pepper to taste
- Preheat the broiler placing the top rack about 6 inches away from the broiler flame.
- Drizzle EVOO evenly on the 2 slices of bread
- Rub minced garlic evenly on the bread
- Place bread in broiling pan under broiler for a minute or two, until starting to crisp and sizzle, but do not burn (the edges may blacken a little and that's ok). Meanwhile beat your eggs and cream until combined, before stirring in the chopped fiddleheads and Parmesan.
- Cook the egg mixture in a nonstick frying pan before placing on top of your bread. Top with the 6 fiddleheads, and enjoy!