Shaved Asparagus Pizza

I am not very adventurous with my pizza. I tend to like to stick to the basics–tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, turkey pepperoni, onions. I just love “regular” pizza so much that I don’t often mess with it.

But, every once in a while, a pizza concept comes along that makes me veer off course for a bit. When I suck it up and try something new, I’ve rarely been disappointed. When I saw this shaved asparagus pizza, I bookmarked it for later consideration. And when we were in need of an easy meal for dinner last weekend, this fit the bill.

I really like asparagus, but I am picky when it comes to cheeses. Luckily, this pizza uses good ol’ mozzarella as a base, and flavor is added with little dollops of a spreadable garlic and herb cheese, which I can handle just fine. Combine those two cheeses with asparagus and you’ve got yourself the full ingredient list. It’s THAT easy, assuming you have some pizza dough lying around. :)

This is a perfect summer pizza. Add this one to the list of things to make on an evening when it’s cool enough to turn on the oven!

Shaved Asparagus Pizza
(Source: Annie’s Eats)

Ingredients:
– 1 recipe your favorite pizza dough
– olive oil, for brushing
– 8 oz. asparagus spears
– 4 oz. fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
– 3 oz. spreadable garlic herb cheese (we used Boursin)
– kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Roll out the pizza dough into a 12-14 inch round. Lightly brush the surface of the dough with olive oil.

2. Cut the tough woody stems off the ends of the asparagus spears. Use a vegetable peeler to shave the spears into ribbons. (It will seem like a lot of asparagus, but use more ribbons than you think you need because it will cook down in the oven.)

3. Place the sliced mozzarella over the pizza dough in an even layer. Pile the asparagus shavings over the top of the mozzarella. Dot the surface of the pizza with the garlic herb cheese. Season with kosher salt and pepper.

4. Bake until the cheese is melted and bubbling and the crust is lightly browned, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before slicing and serving.