Asparagus Pizza
Let's celebrate Spring with a delicious asparagus pizza that is crispy, full of fresh flavor, and amazingly satisfying. A dreamy white pizza sure to please everybody.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
Pizza dough
- 1 easy pizza dough (or your fav dough)
Asparagus and cheese topping
- ½ lb (220 grams) asparagus, tough ends trimmed
- 1 (125 gr/4.5oz) mozzarella ball packed in water (or shredded low moisture mozzarella)*
- 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ cup (110 grams/4oz) soft cream cheese (use more if desired)
- salt and black pepper, to taste
To serve
- extra virgin olive oil, to drizzle
- ⅓ cup fresh basil leaves
Instructions
Pizza dough
- Follow the easy no-knead pizza recipe through step 5, including shaping the pizza and preheating the oven.
Asparagus topping
- Cook the asparagus: rinse the asparagus, pat it dry and snap off the bottom which is the woody fibrous end, or use a chef’s knife to slice off the bottom parts just where the color turns from white to green. Cut the asparagus both lengthwise and crosswise. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, add the asparagus, season with salt, pepper, and cook for about 8-10 minutes. Set aside.
- Shape the dough: when the dough is ready follow step 5, place the paper sheet or parchment paper onto a pizza peel or onto the back of a rimmed baking sheet. Then place the dough on this parchment paper, and starting from the center, gently press it out with your fingers until you get approx a 9×13 inch pizza (try to not make it flat, you want to keep it airy and fluffy).
- Add the cheese: if using fresh mozzarella in water, dice it and place it on kitchen paper. Add another folded piece of paper on top, pat it dry to absorb excess moisture. Finally add it evenly to the pizza, follow with the parmesan cheese, and using a dessert spoon make and scatter over small dollops of cream cheese. .
- Add the asparagus: arrange all the asparagus over the cheese, and sprinkle with salt and black pepper (I use no more than ¼ tsp of salt).
- Bake the pizza: when the oven is hot, use the pizza peel to carefully transfer the pizza onto the preheated pizza stone. Bake the pizza until the mozzarella cheese and crust are nicely browned, approx 12-15 minutes. But each oven is different, keep an eye on it (e.g. in a forced fan oven it will take about 8-10 minutes).
- Serve: allow the pizza to cool for a minute or two before serving, drizzle with good-quality extra virgin olive oil and scatter fresh basil leaves and/or extra black pepper if desired. Slice, serve immediately, enjoy!
Notes
Mozzarella: A standard mozzarella ball packed in water weighs 125 grams (if you're based in the UK). If you prefer to use shredded mozzarella, I think 140 grams/5oz works for this recipe.
How to soften a block of cream cheese: Allow the cream cheese to come to room temperature (it may take an hour to two). Then beat it with a mixer or in a food processor until soft and fluffy, or warm it slightly in a microwave or a warm water bath. As soon as it's "spoonable," you can use it for this cream cheese pizza recipe.
What to use instead of a pizza stone? A rimmed baking sheet or a large cookie sheet that you can invert and place on the lowest shelf of your oven works fine. When the baking sheet is right-side up, taking the pizza in and out of the oven will be easier, and the preheated sheet will make a nice, crisp pizza crust.
How to measure flour? I use both US cups and grams. The cups of flour are leveled, which means you have to fill the measuring cup all the way to the top letting the flour flow over a little. Then, use the back of a knife to level the top off. But a digital scale is an excellent kitchen tool and provides more accurate weight readings.
Asparagus pizza leftovers: cover leftover pizza tightly and store in the refrigerator up to 1 day or freeze up to 3 months. Thaw and reheat the pizza leftovers in the preheated oven (350 F/180 C) and bake for about 8 minutes or until warmed through, crispy, and the cheese is melted. Enjoy!