Asparagus Pizza with Parsley-Chive Pesto
This asparagus pizza is a celebration of spring flavors, with fresh parsley and chive pesto and nutty, slightly sweet Alpine cheese.
Makes: 1 (12-inch) pizza
Cost: $20
Equipment
- Food processor or mortar and pestle
- Large rimmed baking sheet or baking stone/steel
- Pizza peel (optional)
Ingredients
For the pesto:
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts or unsalted shelled pistachios
- 1 large garlic clove chopped
- ½ cup parsley leaves tightly packed
- ¼ cup chopped fresh chives packed
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil plus more as needed
- Freshly ground black pepper
For the pizza:
- 1 (14- to 16-ounce) ball pizza dough
- 4 ounces nutty Alpine cheese (such as Appenzeller, Gruyere, or Fontina) grated (about 1 cup)
- ½ pound asparagus tough ends snapped off and discarded, spears sliced on the diagonal into 1-inch pieces
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 500°F (if using a baking sheet) or as high as it will go (if using a baking stone/steel; place the stone/steel in the oven before you start preheating).
To make the pesto:
- Place the nuts in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Toast the nuts, stirring frequently, until they are just starting to brown in spots, about 2 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat.
- In a food processor or with a mortar and pestle, grind together the garlic, parsley, chives, toasted nuts, sea salt, lemon zest, lemon juice, and the 1/4 cup of olive oil until the mixture is uniform in texture. If the pesto seems too thick to spread on the pizza, stream in a little more oil, a teaspoon at a time, until it reaches your desired texture. Taste it and season with a few grinds of black pepper and more salt as needed.
To make the pizza:
- If you're using a baking stone/steel, turn the oven to Broil on high.
- Stretch or roll out your dough to a 12- to 14-inch circle, then transfer it to an oiled baking sheet or a lightly floured pizza peel (if using a baking stone/steel).
- Spoon the pesto onto the dough and spread it evenly, leaving a 1/2-inch border all around. Sprinkle on half of the cheese, scatter the asparagus evenly over the pizza, and top with the rest of the cheese.
- Transfer the pizza to the oven and bake until the crust is golden and the cheese has browned in spots—8 to 10 minutes on the baking sheet, 6 to 8 minutes on the baking stone/steel.
- Remove the pizza from the oven, and let it rest for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.