The Sassy Squid

I've been having fun this week cooking out of cookbooks while working from home. One such cookbook is the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, which I'm just now discovering even though I've been a fan of Deb Perelman's blog for years. I was particularly intrigued by this shaved asparagus pizza, which looked so vividly green and whose flavor I could not imagine. Andrew was skeptical, but game. 

The results were so delicious and like no pizza we've ever had before. I have to disagree with the amount of mozzarella Deb recommends though--we found it to be way too much to the point where it got in the way of the asparagus. And this is coming from a girl who loves cheese. Next time we would cut the mozzarella in half (the amount we recommend is reflected in the recipe below). Next time meaning today because I saw a big pack of asparagus at Costco last weekend and immediately started thinking about making this again. 

Please try this pizza! You won't be disappointed. 

Shaved Asparagus Pizza

(Recipe adapted from the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook)

• 1 pound asparagus
• 4 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• Several grinds black pepper
• 1.5 pounds pizza dough (we used our favorite pizza dough recipe and had about 1/3 of the dough left over)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Pecorino
• 1/2 pound mozzarella, shredded
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees or however high it will go. Place a pizza stone in the oven if you have one. Line a pizza pan or baking sheet with parchment paper (this is our go-to trick to get the pizza off easily). 
2. Holding a single asparagus spear, use a vegetable peeler to create long shavings of asparagus by dragging the peeler from the base of the asparagus to the top (don't fret if they don't come off as long continuous shavings at first, it will get easier). Repeat with all of the asparagus stalks.
3. Toss shavings with olive oil, salt, and pepper in a bowl. 
4. Take half or 1/3 of your dough (depending on how much you want to use--this recipe will make two pizzas). Roll or stretch out your dough to a 12-inch round on top of the parchment paper.
5. Sprinkle dough with 1/4 cup grated Parmesan or Pecorino. Then sprinkle with 1/4 pound mozzarella. 
6. Top with half the shaved asparagus, arranging evenly on top of the cheese. 
7. Place the pizza in the oven on top of the pizza stone if using, and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the edges are browned, the cheese is bubbling, and the asaparagus is lightly charred. (While this pizza is in the oven, you can work on assembling the second pizza on a second piece of parchment.)
8. When finished, remove the pizza from the oven and immediately top with half the sliced scallions. Slice and serve immediately. (Cook the second pizza in the same way.)