A few weeks ago, I started a pizza-only Pinterest board.

One of the recipes that I pinned was a Shaved Asparagus Pizza that I’d seen on Annie’s Eats.

Beautiful asparagus is starting to pop up in the grocery store, at a beautiful price. Any day that a pound of asparagus is cheaper than a gallon of gas is a good day! And we made that good day into an even better day with pizza.

We dressed 1/2 a lb of shaved asparagus with some lemon juice, zest, garlic, and olive oil and piled that on top of a pizza crust with ricotta and goat cheese. The “salad” pairs really well with the creamy ricotta and tangy goat cheese, especially after cooking down into a wonderfully light and perfect spring dinner on the patio.

Shaving the asparagus isn’t really as time consuming as it looks – you just need a veggie peeler and you’ll be able to shave 1/2 a pound of spears in ~10 minutes.

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Shaved Asparagus Pizza with Goat Cheese and Ricotta

Thinly shaved asparagus, creamy ricotta, and tangy goat cheese top this pizza that's perfect for a spring dinner on the patio.

Ingredients

• For the asparagus salad
• 1 Tbsp of olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 lemon, juiced and zested
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1/2 lb of asparagus
• For assembly
• Your favorite pizza dough (or mine), ready to stretch and bake
• Olive oil, for brushing
• 1/2 cup park-skim ricotta
• Salt
• Pepper
• 2 oz grated mozzarella
• 2 oz goat cheese, crumbled

Instructions

1. Place a pizza stone in the top 1/3 of your oven and increase oven to 550 (500 if your oven doesn't go that high), letting it hold at temperature for at least 30 minutes. (If you're not using a pizza stone, just have your baking sheet nearby.)
2. Dust a pizza peel or your baking sheet with a light dusting of flour and a couple of generous pinches of cornmeal and set aside.
3. Whisk the olive oil, garlic, and lemon juice and zest together in a large bowl.
4. Using a veggie peeler, shave the asparagus into ribbons.
5. Add the asparagus to the bowl and toss to coat.
6. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and then set aside.
7. In a small bowl, mix together the ricotta with salt and pepper.
8. Gently stretch the pizza dough in to a 12-14 inch round or divide into 3 portions and stretch, for individual-sized pizzas.
9. Brush a ~1-inch border of olive oil around the edge of the pizza dough.
10. Spread a thin layer of ricotta over the pizza crust (depending on how thinly you stretched your pizza, you might not use it all).
11. Pile the asparagus on top (let the excess liquid drip off the asparagus, back into the bowl), and then sprinkle with mozzarella and crumbled goat cheese.
12. Transfer your pizza from the pizza peel to baking stone (or place your baking sheet in the oven).
13. Bake for 7-9 minutes for a single large pizza (5-7 for individual pizzas), until the dough is blistered, the edges are golden brown and crispy, and the cheese starts to brown.
14. Remove from oven, slice, and serve.

Notes

Yields: 1 large pizza or 3 individual pizzas

Inspired by Annie's Eats

Estimated time: 1 hour 15 minutes