italian meat and asparagus pizza

Asparagus and I are on a roll lately. Every time I head into the grocery store, bundles of asparagus are neatly tied up in ice baths, on sale, waiting to be taken home. They’re like small green stalk-y puppies, begging me to cook them. I can’t help but oblige.

I’ve put asparagus in risotto, served it over pasta, and alongside roast chicken. I wanted to do something nontraditional with my new love, though, so I channeled my favorite pizza parlor and thought outside the box. Asparagus on pizza? Who’d have thought. (Mom, you can stop reading now.)

I once had a pizza topped with bacon, jalapenos, and asparagus, and it was maybe the best and most interesting pizza I’ve ever tasted. That and a crispy crust and simple sauce, and lots of parmesan cheese, made me a happy pizza camper. Pioneer Woman’s trusty pizza crust recipe at my side, and I set out to replicate this tiny piece of asparagus heaven. Trust me, be adventurous and enjoy. (Also, Eric? You were totally right about the perfect pizza sauce: crushed tomatoes only.)

Italian Meat and Asparagus Pizza
Serves 2

You will need:
1/2 recipe Pioneer Woman’s pizza crust
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 c. crushed tomatoes
Salt and pepper
4 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced thinly
Various italian meats (I used deli pepperoni, a spicy salami, and some leftover prosciutto. Use enough to make one layer on top of the cheese.)
8 spears asparagus, roasted and cut into 2″ lengths
Sliced fresh jalapeño (optional)

Prepare pizza crust according to directions.

Preheat oven to 450. Using half the dough, spread evenly onto a 15 x 10 baking sheet. Spread olive oil over crust; top with crushed tomatoes, salt, and pepper.

Top with cheese, in an even layer. Lay sliced meats over mozzarella, in an even layer. Top meats with asparagus and jalapeño slices.

Bake 15-20 minutes, until crust is golden brown, cheese is melted, and jalapeños are cooked through. Top with parmesan cheese, if desired, and serve immediately.

Photo via Wikipedia, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike license.

spicy italian sandwich

Some days, I enter my car to discover it littered with the detritus of meals-on-the-go. Just yesterday, battling a headache and facing a 45-minute bumper-to-bumper commute, I spent $2.50 on a Dr. Pepper and a package of chocolate sandwich cookies to get me through the drive home. The Dr. Pepper made it into the apartment, but the wrapper from the cookies (which tasted, as one might expect, like so much cardboard and sour frosting) hides in the door pocket. Most days, the white paper straw wrappers in the seats and the receipts bearing the restaurant logos we all love to hate go ignored. 

I feel let down by the cookies. I know, as soon as a buy them, that they’ll taste terrible. Even the Dr. Pepper will fail me. I’ve slowly weaned myself off of caffeine, with the exception of a morning cup of coffee. So a soda this late in the day will do me no favors. But after a meeting that ran too long, a bristly customer, and facing a commute with a head that just won’t quit, I need something. I need sustenance.

Sustenance does not lie in cardboard cookies or delivered pizza, neither of which satisfy for any length of time. True sustenance lies in the salty, savory something I can put on the table without any trips to the store, any stress over instructions or ingredients, and without any guilt. Chopped garlic, swirls of olive oil, shavings of parmesan. Tonight, sustenance is a sandwich. Sustenance, that which sustains me, comes in the marrying of bakery bread (leave the Wonder alone on the shelf) with melted, tangy goat cheese, crispy-on-the-edges spicy salami, fresh arugula from my garden, and olive oil.  The spiciness of both the salami and the arugula go so nicely with the soft, fresh sourness of the goat cheese.

Spicy Italian Sandwich
Serves 2

You will need:
4 slices good-quality bread
Goat cheese

Parmesan cheese
Spicy salami or other Italian cold cut
Fresh arugula, or other leafy green
Olive oil 

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. While oil is heating, generously spread a slice of bread with goat cheese. When oil is hot (it will be particularly shiny), place a slice of bread on the oil. Top with cold cut, lettuce, parmesan cheese to taste, and another slice of bread. Brown the sandwich on one side, flip, brown on the other.

Serve with spicy mustard for dipping, and alongside sliced apples and olives for increased depth of flavor.