Mini Puff Pastry Tarts with Asparagus, Pancetta and Cream of Parmesan


Italian courses are a lot and it took me about a couple of years to go through all the courses with success, meaning eating everything served to me from the first course to the last one. I used to give up after the pasta because not only are the courses a lot, the servings are also abundant. There's antipasto (appetizer), pasta or risotto (the first course), secondo (second/main course) with contorno (side dish), sometimes frutta (fruit) then lastly, the dolce (dessert). At times, each course even has more than one dish.

Now, my husband refers to me as the eating machine, a scary date to take out for dinner who can easily empty his wallet. Why? Because I learned the ropes of Italian eating and even more. I outdo him most of the time in drinking the wine (well, because he's the one who usually drives) and in going through all the courses. 


I remember about fifteen years ago, I felt obliged to order all courses in the restaurants but nowadays, it's already acceptable and normal to skip some courses. When we are handed the menus, I go straight to the appetizer section while my husband goes to the pasta section, like any true-blooded Italian as I would always tease him. I skip the pasta and he skips the appetizer. He can live with just the pasta while I find it impossible to skip the appetizer. It's my favorite course. 

When I have guests, I like preparing more than one kind of appetizer. I always promise myself that I will serve only one because there are still more courses to attend to but I end up serving more. Aside from enjoying eating the appetizers, I also enjoy creating them. Little portions are easier to handle and also fun to put together. 

Here is one appetizer that's quite easy (use store-bought puff pastry) with delightful flavors. You can't go wrong with pancetta, asparagus and Parmigiano Reggiano (Parmesan). I created this Mini Puff Pastry Tarts with Asparagus, Pancetta & Cream of Parmesan recipe for She Knows. It's a site where you will find a world of topics about everything under the sun including food where I regularly create recipes. Check out my Profile Page to see the other recipes I created for them. Buon appetito!

More Appetizer Recipes:

Typical Italian Antipasto
Salmon and Stracchino Rolls  
Sauteed Sausage and Onions With Cabernet Sauvignon