Another Recipe from Anthea's Kitchen: Asparagus Pizza

Another cooking experiment success! Yesterday, I decided to try the asparagus pizza recipe from Canadian Living Magazine. My friend and I were going to a comedy show in the evening and were going to go out for dinner; but I thought, why not just make something easy and enjoy it on the patio in the sun? Another great way to save money: try different recipes and share them with your friends. Eating out can get very expensive if you do it often enough. This pizza is a little bit more expensive to make because of the special cheeses the recipe calls for, but you can easily change it by substituting with mozzarella or even cheddar. See full recipe and give it a try. If you do, I'd love to hear about it!

It just goes to show that you don't have to follow a recipe exactly. I found a fabulous loaf of flat focaccia bread and split it down the centre to use as a pizza crust. It gave it a little bit more taste and didn't require me to mess around trying to perfect dough! I also added tomatoes to for variety. If you want to use a proper pizza crust, check your grocery store or even use a boboli pizza crust to save time.

Before

After

Ingredients

1 1lb lb(454 g) (454 g) pizza dough
1-1/2 lb asparagus , trimmed and halved (about 2 bunches)1-1/2 1-1/2lb lb(680 g) (680 g) asparagus, trimmed and halved (about 2 bunches)
1/4 cup olive oil 1/4 1/4cup cup(50 mL) (50 mL) olive oil
1/4 tsp salt 1/4 1/4tsp tsp(1 mL) (1 mL) salt
1 pinch pepper 1 1pinch pinchpepper
2 cloves garlic , minced2 2cloves garlic, minced
1 cup shredded fontina cheese 1 1cup cup(250 mL) (250 mL) shredded fontina cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1/4 1/4cup cup(50 mL) (50 mL) grated Parmesan cheese


Preparation

Shape dough into ball by pulling sides down and folding into bottom at centre; cover with tea towel and let rest for 20 minutes.

In large bowl, mix asparagus, half of the oil, the salt and pepper; set aside.

On lightly floured surface, shape dough by pressing with fingertips and pulling edges to stretch into 16- x 12-inch (40 x 30 cm) rectangle. Place on cornmeal-dusted baking sheet.

Stir remaining oil with garlic; spread over dough. Top with asparagus, and Fontina and Parmesan cheeses.

Bake in bottom third of 425°F (220°C) oven until crust is golden, 20 to 25 minutes.