Asparagus & Dried Tomato Pizza

A new combination of pizza toppings may not really be a recipe, but it's what I made and it was tasty.

This time, the pizza crust turned out better than ever before: thin, crispy, chewy, and with nice air bubbles in the outer crust. It is the same basic recipe I've been using for a while (this one without the Sriracha), but I did a few things differently. First, I let it rise for a while -- usually we are in a hurry to eat and so I don't bother, knowing that it'll make a crust that's serviceable but not spectacular. Today I had time, so I let it rise until doubled (first on the counter, then in the fridge because it was hot and I was going out for a while). Second, I added a couple tablespoons of vital wheat gluten. Third, I baked it for a full ten minutes, instead of my usual seven. I have to recommend doing all these things -- the payoff is great.

Asparagus & Dried Tomato Pizza

One recipe crust, linked above. This will make 2x what you need.

1/2 cup dried tomatoes, soaked about 5 minutes in boiling water
1/2 lb asparagus, cut into lengths just under an inch
2 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 medium sweet onion (I used Vidalia), chopped
1/2 tsp olive oil

While you are soaking the tomatoes, saute the asparagus in the oil over high heat, until tender and beginning to blacken. Remove from heat and reserve.

Preheat oven to 450.

Your dough will be very, very sticky. Heavily flour a surface and turn the dough onto it; flour the top of the dough. Divide the dough in half; save half for another use (such as making a calzone for lunch the next day with your extra tomatoes and onions). Roll the dough out as thinly as you can into an approximate circle. You can also stretch it a bit the way they do it pizza parlors. The idea is to have about a 10 inch circle that's very thin but a bit thicker around the edges.

Sprinkle cornmeal heavily on a cookie sheet . Transfer your dough to the sheet. Cover with tomato slices (there will be gaps), asparagus, onions, and feta. Bake 10 minutes. Let cool a few minutes and eat!

Serves one, realistically. Two if you have other components to the meal, perhaps.

Asparagus + Feta Tart

Well. It's been a busy few months. I haven't cooked anything new or interesting in ages. Until today.

The crust for this is my new go-to pizza crust recipe -- I keep having a new default one, because I'm too lazy to go look up the proportions that have worked before. This one is too easy to forget.

Asparagus and Feta Tart

Crust:
1 cup whole wheat flour (plus extra as needed)
1 cup white flour
Small pour of cornmeal (about 1/4 cup)
Dash of olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp-ish active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
(1 tsp Sriracha, optional)

Filling:
1 bunch asparagus
4 oz feta, crumbled
pepper to taste
dill to taste
1/4 cup red wine

Mix the yeast and warm water. In a mixing bowl, mix flours, cornmeal, oil, salt, and Sriracha, if using. Pour in the water/yeast mixture and stir with a spoon until it comes together into a ball. It will be sticky. Dust the surface with flour and knead a couple of times. If the surface is sticky again, dust it with flour again, and set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.


Preheat your oven to 450. Grill the asparagus about 9 minutes on a George Forman-type grill, or cook over high heat in a very lightly greased pan about the same amount of time. Meanwhile, boil the wine in a saucepan until it reduces to about 4 tbsp.

Roll out the dough to form a rectangle of approximately 12 x 7 inches. It should be fairly thin (unless, like me, you rolled it out and arranged the asparagus, only to realize you'd only cooked half the asparagus and would now have to cook the other half -- leaving the dough to rise another 9 minutes while it cooked). Place it on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Arrange the asparagus spears over the dough, leaving about a 1 inch border. Sprinkle on the cheese, and copious pepper and dill. Fold the edges up and over, to give the tart a raised edge. (Don't worry if they come a bit undone in baking.) Bake 7-9 minutes, until the crust is cooked and beginning to turn gold in places.

After you take it out of the oven, spoon the reduced wine over the top.

Serves 2 as a dinner; 4 as lunch alongside soup.

Asparagus Risotto

This is a lovely, vegetarian light-purple risotto that contrasts very prettily with the asparagus. Not enough light to take a good picture, so you'll have to imagine it. You could also make it with white wine for a non-purple risotto, of course.

Asparagus Risotto

2 cups arborio rice
2/3 cup red wine
1 cup skim milk
lots of hot water -- approximately 6 cups
1/2 onion, chopped finely
1 large garlic clove, chopped finely
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
grated rind of 1 medium lemon
1 tsp butter
1 large bunch asparagus, cut into 1.5-inch sections
a small amount of olive oil

Asparagus: you can either do this before the rice, which takes a lot of attention, or start it before and continue simultaneously. Wash asparagus, and do not dry thoroughly. Heat a very small amount of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add asparagus and cook, stirring frequently, until just tender and beginning to be brown and wrinkled in spots. Set aside when done.

Rice: Melt the butter in the bottom of a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes, until translucent. Add the rice, and cook one or two minutes; lower the heat to medium-low. Then add half the wine, and stir until it has been absorbed. Add the other half, and do the same. Then add a cup or so of water and the soy sauce; stir occasionally until absorbed. (You don't actually have to stir the whole time to get a good texture, but it helps keep anything from sticking to the pan.) Add another cup of water, and do the same. Add half the milk, stir till absorbed, and add the other half of the milk. Continue adding water a half cup or cup at a time until the rice is cooked and has an al dente texture, about 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, and add the cheese, lemon zest, salt and pepper; stir until incorporated.

To serve, stir in 2/3 of the asparagus. Spoon into bowls and top with remaining asparagus.

Serves 4 as a main course.

Green Pasta with Asparagus

I had leftover cilantro, but didn't have all the ingredients for the green sauce I like, so I decided to make up a new one. I'm posting the recipe that makes a lot of green sauce--I froze a lot and just used the leftovers for the pasta. It's a bit like pesto, but with cilantro.


Green Pasta with Asparagus

Enough pasta for two people
1/2 bunch asparagus, ends trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup Green Sauce
zest of 1/2 lemon
salt to taste

Cook pasta. A few minutes before it's done, about 3, add the asparagus to the pot. Drain, and return to pot. Add cheese, green sauce, lemon zest, and salt if necessary. Mix well.

Serves 2.

Sauce
1 bunch cilantro, leaves and stems
3-4 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/3 cup water
1 tbsp sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp salt

Combine ingredients in blender and puree--start with just a little cilantro and add it little by little.
Makes about 2 cups or a little less.