Spring Asparagus Pizza

This recipe comes to us by way of CSA member Christina, who adapted it from Susan Spungen’s sheet pan pizza with asparagus.

She says: “Call it a slab pizza, call it a flatbread, call it what you will. (We call it delicious.) For those who eat meat, the prosciutto adds a salty contrast to the asparagus, but isn’t essential. Lemon on pizza, if you’re not already a convert, is incredible, and a wonderful partner to the fresh asparagus. We served our pizza with Full Belly lettuce dressed with a light lemon vinaigrette alongside, using the other half of that Meyer lemon.”

1 lb pizza dough (homemade, or add to your FB box!)
2–3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup (4 oz) ricotta or cottage cheese
5 oz fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced or torn
1/2 lb fresh spring asparagus, rough ends removed and roughly chopped
1/2 fresh jalapeño, seeded, de-veined (or not, if you like more heat), and thinly sliced
2–3 thin slices prosciutto, optional
2 tablespoons roughly chopped manzanilla olives
1/2 Meyer lemon, very thinly sliced, seeds removed
Spring onions, green garlic, or spring leeks, thinly sliced, as much or as little as you like, optional
Flaky salt + fresh pepper

Remove pizza dough from fridge and let it come to room temperature. Preheat oven to 500° and move rack to the bottom rung.
Place olive oil in a quarter sheet pan and coat the bottom and up the sides, letting it pool.
Slowly and carefully, stretch the pizza dough out to fit into the pan, pinching any holes.
Cover dough with cottage cheese, then layer mozzarella.
Lay slices of prosciutto over the cheese.
Toss asparagus and jalapeño with a small amount of oil, then spread over top of cheeses + prosciutto.
Put pizza in the over and cook for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, remove pizza from oven, lower oven temp to 450°, and sprinkle olives and lemon slices (and onions, garlic, or leeks, if using) over the top of the pizza.
Return pizza to oven for 8–10 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the cheese and lemons have a nice bit of color.
Remove from oven and transfer to rack. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and let cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.