Shaved Asparagus Pizza

Being the food lover that I am, one of my favorite things about spring is asparagus.  I love having it roasted as a side dish so when I saw this recipe, I knew that I would love having asparagus as part of a main dish.  I think Matt might have initially been a bit skeptical of having asparagus on his pizza, but we both agreed that this was an amazing pizza and perfect for this time of the year!  I think there is something elegant about this pizza but it really takes almost no time at all to prepare.  This is yet another great way to change up pizza night!

Shaved Asparagus Pizza

Pizza Dough

Olive oil, for brushing

1/2 pound asparagus spears

4 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated

3 ounces spreadable garlic herb cheese

Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven and a pizza stone to 500 degrees (or as hot as your oven will get) for at least 30 minutes.  Alternatively, you can use a baking sheet, in which case preheat the oven to 425 degrees without adding the baking sheet.

Break off or cut tough ends of asparagus spears.  Using a vegetable peeler, shave asparagus into ribbons.  It does not need to all be the same size.  The asparagus will cook down in the oven, so use more asparagus than you think you will need.  Set aside.

Roll out pizza dough into a 12-14 inch round. Lightly brush the dough with olive oil.  Sprinkle mozzarella evenly over the dough.  Top with asparagus ribbons.  Dot the surface with pieces of the garlic herb cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Transfer pizza to stone or baking sheet and bake until the crust is lightly browned and cheese is melted, about 10-12 minutes.  Let cool slightly before cutting.

Source: very slightly adapted from Annie's Eats