DAILY DINNERS

Line a large baking tray with baking parchment and set aside.

Dust some flour on a clean work surface & roll out the puff pastry to a 28x30cm rectangle about the thickness of a £1 coin. Trim the edges so that the sides are nice & straight. Cut the pastry in half down the length & then into thirds across the width to give six 10x14cm.

Put the pastry rectangles on the baking tray, cover with cling film & refrigerate for 20 mins (or freeze for 10 mins) so the pastry firms up. It is important to do this so that when the puff pastry bakes in the oven, the flour cooks before the butter melts ensuring a much lighter pastry.

Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/Gas 7 Mix the cream cheese & lemon zest together in a small bowl & season with salt and pepper. Trim the asparagus so that each stem is 10cm/4in long

Once firm, remove the pastry from the fridge (or freezer) and use a sharp knife to mark a 1cm wide border around each rectangle. Then, using a crosshatch pattern, mark the border so each pastry shape resembles a picture frame. Take a fork and prick the centre of each shape about 10 times, right through to the baking tray. Brush the border with the beaten egg (or milk), making sure that it does not go down the sides of the pastry (if this happens, wipe it away otherwise the egg will stick the layers of the pastry together and stop the pastry from rising).

Divide the lemony cream cheese between the 6 tarts, spreading it out with the back of the spoon & making sure that it stays inside the ‘frame’. Lay 5 asparagus spears in a single layer, touching each other & pointing in the same direction on each tart. Push them down slightly.

Bake the tarts in the oven for 18-20 minutes, or until the pastry has puffed up nicely and is firm and golden-brown where it has risen.

About 10 minutes before the tart is ready, pour about 4cm of water into a sauté pan or a deep frying pan and bring to the boil over a high heat. Turn the heat down to bring the water to a gentle simmer. Crack an egg into a very small bowl or tea cup and then slide the egg into the water. Repeat with all of the eggs, spacing them apart. Cook them for about 3-4 minutes, or until the white is cooked but the yolk still soft. Remove with a slotted spoon onto a warm plate.

Remove the tarts from the oven & divide between 6 serving plates. Sit a poached egg on top of each tart and scatter over the parmesan & basil leaves. Sprinkle with salt and pepper & serve.