Asparagus Pizza

My perfect Mother's Day starts with sleeping in and hot coffee sipped slowly in the sunshine completely unhurried. My darling children would be happy and in good moods and my fingers wouldn’t touch a dirty dish or a pair of gross teenager socks the entire day.

At some point a freshly toasted bagel would be delivered to my sunny spot along with my kindle and a refill on said coffee. I would read and eat and chat with whoever decides to sit with me until I’m finally ready for a little adventure. Maybe a hike or a bike ride or even just a long walk, again with the happy cheerful children.

As the day winds down, I get to choose whatever I want for dinner and it would be something cheesy and full of carbs with some sort of green salad (for balance). We would return to that sunny spot on the patio but now its perfectly shaded and there’s a glass of wine in my hand instead of coffee and again with the happy children. We will laugh and joke and hang out until the sun goes down and that would be my perfect day.

Considering three teenagers live at my house, its highly unlikely all three of them will be happy at the same time for an entire day but a mom can dream. I can guarantee I’m not about to pick up a single sock for the entire day.

And if mom is choosing the menu, this asparagus pizza is definitely going to be part of the meal. Perfect this time of year when fresh asparagus is abundantly available around the Valley, I can’t recommend this simple but outrageously delicious recipe enough.

Thin stalks of asparagus are diced into bite size pieces and tossed in a little olive oil, garlic powder, lemon zest, salt and red pepper flakes. The asparagus is then piled on freshly grated parmesan cheese and fresh mozzarella making for a bright, gorgeous pizza.

The pizza crust is up to you. You can hop over to my recipe site at thesaltandstone.com for an easy pizza dough recipe or you can pick up pre-made dough at the grocery store. If you are a sourdough person (or have a friend with a sourdough starter), sourdough discard pizza dough is epic (and easy to make).

I, personally, want a little bite to my asparagus so I chose to dice the asparagus into pieces but a beautiful presentation and a different option would be to shave the asparagus into ribbons. This would slightly speed up cook time so make a mental note to watch your pizza closely if you decide to go that route. Regardless, you’re going to have an absolutely lovely spring dinner and all you need to go with it is maybe a little green salad and a glass of your favorite wine. Happy cheerful children sadly not guaranteed with this recipe, but we can’t have it all.

A couple more ideas to make this recipe all your own. Try layering thin slices of prosciutto over the cheese before adding the asparagus for a slightly heartier pizza. Havarti cheese would be a lovely substitution for mozzarella and of course a number of additional toppings would be delicious. You can’t go wrong with mushrooms, baby spinach, fresh garlic, bell peppers, fresh tomatoes, cooked chicken or bacon. Go crazy!

Asparagus Pizza

• 1 pizza dough (should make a 12-inch pizza)

• 1/2 pound asparagus

• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

• 1/2 pound fresh mozzarella cheese

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

• Zest of 1/2 a large lemon

• Pinch of red pepper flakes

• 1 green onion, white part removed, thinly diced

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt + pinch coarse sea salt for garnish

• 6-8 fresh basil leaves for garnish

Preheat oven to 500 degrees and if using a pizza stone, place in the oven while it preheats.

Snap off the woody stems of the asparagus and give a rough dice so the asparagus is in bite-size pieces. Transfer to a bowl and drizzle with olive oil, garlic powder, salt, red pepper flakes and lemon zest. Give a quick mix to combine. Set aside.

Roll out pizza dough on a floured surface until the dough is roughly 12-inches across. Transfer to a tray or pizza pan that’s been sprayed with cooking spray and scattered with cornmeal or flour. If you’re using a pizza peel, just flour it well.

Grate the parmesan right over the crust until a thin layer forms. Top the parmesan with torn pieces of fresh mozzarella, dotting the pizza evenly with the cheese. Finally, top with the asparagus. Thinly dice the green onion and garnish the pizza with the green onion.

Cook in the oven for about 10 to 12 minutes or until the pizza crust is golden brown along the edges and the cheese has spread across the pizza and is bubbly. The asparagus should slightly char and when you sneak a little bite off the top of the pizza, it should be tender but have just a little bite to it.

Once the pizza is finished cooking, remove from the oven and garnish with a pinch of flaky sea salt. Let it cool for a couple minutes before slicing and digging in.