Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Pizza Night: Potato-Asparagus-Goat Cheese and Broccoli-Pepperoni

We had a great pizza night recently featuring two really interesting toppings. Above is pictured the broccoli-pepperoni variation. We had fresh broccoli from the garden, and it was amazing. You might want to use broccolini if you don't have it from the garden since it's a little more delicate. I steamed the broccoli briefly until just tender before topping the pizza.

Below is a really tasty potato-asparagus-goat cheese version. For this one, I didn't use tomato sauce and just spread a little olive oil on the crust. The pizza had excellent contrast between the creamy cheese, slightly crunchy but tender roasted asparagus, soft potatoes, and lemon juice for a little kick. Next time I think I would also roast the potatoes since I think roasting tends to lend a better flavor than steaming.

Potato-Asparagus-Goat Cheese Pizza (adapted from Bon Appetit)

1 recipe pizza dough (here are a few to choose from: Martha Stewart, Peter Reinhart, PR's Sourdough) Make enough dough for 2 medium or 1 extra large thin-crust pizza.
5 ounces Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into small cubes
1 bunch skinny asparagus (about 8 ounces), cut into 1 inch pieces
1 garlic clove, minced
3 T extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 ounces fresh goat cheese, crumbled
4 ounces mozzarella, grated
2 Meyer (or 1 regular) lemons

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss the potatoes and 1 T olive oil in a bowl. Season lightly with salt and pepper, and then spread on a baking sheet. Toss the asparagus and garlic with an additional 1 T olive oil, and season lightly with salt and pepper. Place the asparagus on another baking sheet. Roast both vegetables in the oven until tender and browned.
2. After you remove the veggies from the oven, turn it up to 500 degrees. Stretch out your pizza crust. Spread the remaining 1 T olive oil over the crust. Top with the veggies, goat cheese, mozzarella, and a generous squeeze of Meyer lemon juice.
3. Bake the pizza until the bottom crust is browned and the cheese is melted and bubbling. Serve with more lemon wedges to squeeze over the pizza.

3 comments:

  1. What a neat idea to get the kids to eat their vegetables. I'm going to make the same dish this weekend...yum

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  2. Wow, I love thin pizza like this. Yum!

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  3. I love your vegetarian pizza. Great idea and combination.

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