Asparagus with lemon and mint pizza
Happy spring! I was a little bundle of joy when I spotted the basket of freshly harvested purple asparagus at this week's farmers market. The question was, 'how do I get this onto a pizza?'. Some people lose sleep over finances, or other worries. I lose sleep over pizza. I started wondering about how might an "asparagus pizza" work and next thing I knew it was 3 AM. Fortunately, I've worked it out. You need not toss and turn. The secret, is lemon and mint.
You'll need about 4 ounces of fresh asparagus cut into thin slices with a vegetable peeler. Julienne peelers do a very nice job of this task. Use a knife to cut the pieces that the peeler can't.
Whisk together a dressing for the asparagus from about 1 tsp minced fresh shallot, 3 tsp lemon olive oil, 1 tsp lemon juice, about 1-2 tsp finely chopped spearmint, and 1/4 tsp salt. Toss the asparagus in the dressing and set aside.
Stretch a dough ball to about 10 inches and top with a thin layer of mild cheese such as mozzarella, provolone or havarti. Arrange the asparagus on top and then finish with some harder cheese such as asiago. Fresh asiago is perfect but so gosh darned difficult to find. It is milder and sweeter than the aged asiago but good luck locating it.
Bake for 9 minutes at 500 degrees F or until done. For a tasty variation, crack an egg or two over the top when about 5 minutes bake time remains. Minty, lemony asparagus pizza topped with a slightly salty cheese. Enjoy this perfect spring pizza and sleep well.
