Recipe: Monterey Jack Asparagus Pizza

My favorite!!! Umm, not a big "red sauce pizza" fan but I love asparagus on pizza. I first had something like this at Comet (delish) and I have been making them ever since. I love this recipe from Unruly Things' new blog Milk + Eggs + Chocolate. MMMmmmmMMM.

Monterey Jack Asparagus Pizza
makes one 14" round pizza

pre-heat oven to 425˚

:: for dough ::
3/4 cup unbleached white flour
1 package rapid rise yeast
1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt
1/2 cup very hot water
1 tbsp honey
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
extra white flour for dusting
1/8 cup semolina flour for bottom of crust

• whisk together white flour, yeast, and sea salt in a large bowl.
• mix honey and hot water together in a heat proof cup and pour into flour mixture. mix water with flour until smooth. pour wheat flour into mixture and mix until just blended.
• place dough onto a floured surface and knead until blended and soft, about 15-20 times. I tend to knead my dough until it "feels right", so after a few times creating this pizza dough, you'll know what I mean.
• form dough into a ball and cover with bowl. allow dough to rise at least 30 minutes.

:: for topping ::
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium sized shallot, about a 1/4 cup chopped
about 15 stems of asparagus
1 cup spinach
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup Monterey jack cheese

• heat olive oil on medium heat in a heavy skillet. add shallots to skillet and cook for 3 minutes.
• snap the hard ends off of the asparagus by holding one side in your hand and gently pushing down on the other side until the stem naturally snaps. add to skillet and mix with shallots. cook for about 10 minutes, or until shallots are browned. separate asparagus and shallots in skillet so that adding them to the pizza is easiest.

• meanwhile, after dough has had enough time to rise, gently pick it up to make sure that none of the dough has stuck to your surface. spread out semolina onto your surface, then place the dough back in the center. carefully roll out the dough until it's about 1/4" thick.
• spread ricotta cheese evenly in center of dough, leaving about a 1" border on the outside.
• arrange spinach on top of ricotta.
• place asparagus stems artfully around pizza, concentrating on covering. sprinkle shallots on top.
• lastly, generously top pizza with Monterey jack cheese, making sure to cover all open spots.

Al's note: I find that when I bake pizzas that have heavier or larger toppings they are often difficult to transfer from the prep surface to the stone. for this pizza I used a baking sheet and prepared my pizza on the baking sheet for easy transfer.

• if using a pizza stone, place pizza directly onto the stone and bake for 10 minutes.
• if using a baking sheet, line with a sheet of parchment paper and cook for 15 minutes or until crust is golden.