Farmers Market Asparagus & Potato Pizza Recipe

If you caught Monday’s post, I wrote all about my strategy for coming up with a dinner recipe while shopping on the fly at the farmers market. And, drumroll please… here’s what I made! It’s a big green, veggie potato pizza loaded with chopped asparagus, asparagus ribbons, cheese, flowering thyme, chives, and those pretty chive blossoms that I got at Chicago’s Logan Square Farmers Market. It’s spring on a plate… or rather, spring on dough.

I know I say this all the time, but I LOVE letting local produce lead my meal planning. These fresh impromptu meals just really make me excited to make and play with food. Which is why we love this partnership with Sub-Zero – their Fresh Food Matters Initiative is all about getting into the kitchen to make meals for your family using fresh fruits and vegetables.

So let’s get cooking!

To make these pretty asparagus ribbons, you don’t need a fancy kitchen tool, just a regular vegetable peeler. This peeling technique works best with asparagus that’s on the medium-to-thick side so that you can get nice long peels. After you’re done peeling, chop up the bits that are left and toss those onto the pizza as well.

Layer the pizza with olive oil, garlic, cheese (I suggest gruyere or white cheddar – your favorite vegan cheese would work too), thinly sliced small potatoes and the chopped asparagus bits. Bake it until the potatoes and the dough are both nicely browned.

After the pizza comes out of the oven, layer on the pretty toppings – the asparagus ribbons, and chive blossoms if you have them (if you don’t – just use more chopped chives!)

Heat this up for a few more minutes so that the asparagus lightly wilts. Serve this fancy pizza with a pale rosé. Cheers!

Farmers Market Asparagus & Potato Pizza

• 6 to 8 thick asparagus spears
• 3 to 4 small Yukon gold potatoes
• 1 pound raw pizza dough
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1½ cups gruyere or white cheddar cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped chives
• 2 radishes, thinly sliced, optional
• Squeezes of fresh lemon juice
• 5 chive blossom flowers, optional
• 1 tablespoon thyme flowers or fresh thyme leaves
• ⅓ cup shaved fresh parmesan cheese
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
2. Use a vegetable peeler to peel the asparagus vertically into ribbons. Set the ribbons aside and finely chop any leftover bits of the tender parts of the asparagus, avoiding the fibrous inch or so on the ends.
3. Use a mandoline or a sharp knife to slice the potatoes paper thin.
4. Stretch the pizza dough to fit a large pizza stone or pan. Brush the dough with olive oil and sprinkle with the minced garlic. Top the dough with three-fourths of the gruyere cheese, and then layer the potatoes in circles, starting from the outside of the pizza working in. Let them overlap just slightly. Sprinkle on the remaining gruyere cheese and half of the chives and bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until the dough is cooked through and the potatoes are tender.
5. Remove the pizza from the oven and top with the radish slices, if using, and the asparagus ribbons. Squeeze lemon over the asparagus and sprinkle with a few pinches of salt and pepper. Break apart the chive blossoms and sprinkle on top along with the thyme flowers and/or leaves. Return the pizza for the oven for 3 minutes to lightly warm the toppings.
6. Remove from the oven and top with the parmesan cheese and freshly cracked black pepper.

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Thanks to Sub Zero for partnering (and inspiring) this farmers market recipe. Check out freshfoodmatters.com for more great seasonal produce tips and join the conversation online using #FreshFoodMatters!