{ Shaved Asparagus Pizza }

Stick with me on this. I know it seems like a bit of a stretch.

Asparagus pizza is good.

Like, really really good!

I love asparagus; we've had a couple times a week ever since it showed up in the produce department a couple of months ago. I adore asparagus. I can't get enough. I broil it with a little olive oil and some lemon pepper, and even Mike {a self-proclaimed asparagus hater} loves the stuff.

When I saw this recipe on Tasty Kitchen, I was skeptical. Nonetheless, I was determined to give this new and exotic way of consuming my vegetable love a try. The pizza went together really quickly--making the asparagus "shavings" was the most time-consuming part, and it still probably took about 15 minutes, from start to putting it in the oven.

And people!

It smells SO GOOD when you take it out of the oven!!

Definitely a girly pizza--there's no meat, after all--but so springy and flavorful and fresh. It's like springtime in your mouth. That may be partly due to the fact that I used Trader Joe's herbed pizza dough. No one can convince me that making pizza dough from scratch is easier than spending $2-3 on Trader Joe's always-perfect pizza dough!! It took me literally one minute to spread out on the pan and I was done. I don't care how simple, how foolproof, how fast your pizza dough recipe may be, I'd bet Trader Joe's has you beat. Our time is valuable, ladies!

Here's the recipe, courtesy of Tasty Kitchen.

Shaved Asparagus Pizza

Ingredients:

1 whole Batch Of Pizza Dough - Enough For 1 12-16 Inch Pizza

Extra Virgin Olive Oil, For Drizzling The Dough

8 ounces, weight Fresh Mozzarella

1 bunch Asparagus

5-¼ ounces, weight Boursin Cheese (or Similar Herb And Garlic Spreadable Cheese)

Fresh Cracked Black Pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 F.

If not already shaped, stretch your pizza dough into a large circle 12-16 inches in diameter and place on your pizza pan or stone. Drizzle dough with a thin stream of olive oil.

Slice fresh mozzarella as thinly as possible and arrange in a single layer over dough.

Using a vegetable peeler shave your asparagus into thin ribbons. Use the entire bunch, as you might only get 3 or 4 good ribbons from each spear. Pile asparagus shavings on top of the mozzarella. The asparagus WILL cook down so you want to use more than you think is necessary.

Top asparagus with several cranks of black pepper and dot generously with Boursin cheese. (I tend to use 1/4-1/2 a package per pizza.)

Bake on pizza stone or baking sheet for 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Let cool for 2-3 minutes before slicing and serving.

Enjoy!