Asparagus Goat Cheese Bruschetta with Porcini Vinaigrette
From the kitchen of CarlyTender asparagus spears meet tangy goat cheese on crispy bread, finished with a deep, savory porcini vinaigrette that tastes like you've been reducing mushroom stock all afternoon. Elegant enough for guests, simple enough for lunch.
Soft asparagus tips balanced on their own stems, creamy goat cheese underneath, dark porcini vinaigrette pooling on the plate. This looks composed and restaurant-precious, but the real trick is steaming the asparagus just right so the tips stay tender and the stems hold their shape. The umami-forward mushroom sauce does the heavy lifting, letting the vegetables speak.
- Prep
- n/a
- Cook
- n/a
- Total
- n/a
- Servings
- 4
- Difficulty
- medium
Ingredients
4 servings
- 1/2 ozdried porcini mushrooms
- 1 cupboiling water
- 1/4 cupsherry vinegar
- 1/4 cupminced shallots
- 2 tspsugar
- 1/4 cupextra-virgin olive oil, plus additional for brushing
- 2 bunchgreen asparagus , ends trimmed to 6 inches
- 8 ozfresh goat cheese, softened
- 8 slicegood quality bread
- 1such as pain de mie
- 1pullman or sourdough
- 1crusts trimmed
Instructions
Drop the dried mushrooms into a heatproof bowl and pour boiling water over the top. Let stand 20 minutes. Strain the mushrooms with their soaking liquid through a paper-towel-lined sieve set over a small saucepan. Move the mushrooms to a cutting board and chop finely. Drop the vinegar, shallots, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and half of the chopped mushrooms into the saucepan with the strained liquid. Boil until the mixture reduces to 2/3 cup, about 10 minutes. Whisk in 1/4 cup of olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. The sauce works equally well warm or at room temperature.
Heat the oven to 400°F with a rack in the upper third.
In a small bowl, stir the remaining chopped mushrooms together with the softened goat cheese.
Set a steamer basket in a 5-quart pot filled with 2 inches of water. Steam the asparagus, covered, just until tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Lift the asparagus into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking, then drain and pat dry.
Halve the asparagus spears crosswise.
Arrange the bread slices across a large baking sheet. Brush with olive oil and bake until golden, 10 to 12 minutes.
Spread the mushroom-goat cheese mixture generously across each toast.
To plate: settle a toast in the center of each salad plate and arrange 4 or 5 asparagus stem ends across the top. Cross the asparagus tips perpendicular to the stems on top of each. Drizzle the porcini vinaigrette over the asparagus and the surrounding plate.
Tips from the kitchen
- Slice asparagus crosswise after steaming, then stand the stems upright with tips arranged on top like a flavor-forward log cabin. It sounds fussy but takes 30 seconds and makes plating feel intentional.
- Steep dried porcini in boiling water 20 minutes to extract all that mineral richness, then use both the mushrooms and their soaking liquid. That broth is half the vinaigrette's depth.
- Toast your bread slices in the upper third of the oven so the bottoms brown before the tops burn. Thicker slices (half-inch) hold the creamy cheese without getting soggy.
Variations
- Swap the vinaigrette: Make a brown butter and sage version instead, warming the mushroom solids with melted butter and torn sage leaves, then finish with good vinegar.
- White asparagus: Use it in spring if you find it. Cook it a minute or two longer since it's thicker, and the pale spears will look stunning against the dark mushroom sauce.
- Shrimp upgrade: Add 4 or 5 sautéed shrimp to each plate instead of relying entirely on the asparagus. Still dress them with the porcini vinaigrette.
Make ahead and storage
Eat this as intended, served fresh and plated to order. The components keep separately in the fridge for up to 3 days (toast in an airtight container, asparagus and cheese in separate covered bowls), but reassemble just before serving.