There was a lot of asparagus in my fridge recently. A lot. So what to do? I could have used it in soup, or in a frittata, or had it simply grilled in a salad, but I wanted something a little more outside the box. How about pizza? An asparagus and prosciutto pizza, no less.

Asparagus and Prosciutto Pizza Casting Call

It was a lot of fun to throw this pizza together. I wanted the asparagus to play the lead role, and my thoughts immediately turned to that classic combination of the tasty green spears with lively, salty prosciutto. With the two stars of the pizza cast, it seemed to me my usual go-to tomato sauce might try to steal the show. So in its place, a tasty blend of ricotta, garlic and fresh basil covered the base — like the musical chorus behind the production.

As far as the supporting cast goes, a scattering of red onion slices was next, followed by little nests of paper-thin prosciutto all over the pie. (I used skinless prosciutto, for easier eating — good as it is, I find it hard to bite through the fatty layer and don’t fancy pulling a pile of hot pizza toppings onto my lap, or a higher landing zone, if you know what I mean).  More cheesy goodness came in the form of torn pieces of creamy buffalo mozzarella — another new ingredient for me and one to be used again — and of course the obligatory grating of parmesan before the pie went into the oven.

But I get ahead of myself, because I haven’t addressed the asparagus yet. Oh, the asparagus! Much as I love the look of the whole stalks, I decided to cut them in half to make things a little easier for eating. That said, it doesn’t look half bad, if I say so myself. Once baked, it was tender and juicy, all that local asparagus promises to be.

If you look really closely at the photos, you might be able to tell that there’s a secret ingredient on this pizza, a bit like a surprise cameo appearance by an actor you know and love. When I roast asparagus I wake it up it with a spritz of fresh lemon juice. I didn’t think that would work with pizza, so I gave it a generous sprinkling of lemon zest before it went into the oven. Just the thing!

Dough and Memories

The whole works started with a homemade whole wheat dough (so easy when the mixer does the work of kneading for you!). Under 10 minutes of prep, followed by eight minutes of machine kneading, and then the dough did its rising thing while I went to the market. Nothing like coming home to the glorious fragrance of yeast dough! And yes, you absolutely can use a pre-made dough — I know a couple of shops around here that sell it in bags.

Years and years ago, I often made pizza on a Friday night. The kids would be in the next room watching cartoons or playing Sonic the Hedgehog and I’d be making dough, getting the toppings ready (usually cheese and pepperoni) and listening to them having fun. Happy memories.

This asparagus and prosciutto pizza makes for happy memories too.