If ever there were a food that was in vogue, I would say that this spring’s winner would be shaved asparagus. I had never seen such a preparation before but this spring, I have seen in pop up in all manner of recipes. Simple salads, side dishes, and atop pizzas, to name a few. Now I really like asparagus made in the traditional way with the spears intact, but I’ve been buying it just about every week through our produce delivery service, so I am happy to find more things to do with it. I think that chunks of full asparagus spears are just a little too much on a pizza so this method is genius. You get all the great flavor of asparagus without thick, tough stems or having to worry about pre-cooking it in some way. When I first saw this I assumed special equipment such as a mandoline was necessary (I recently bought one but have yet to use it.) Nope, nothing special here! Just a few quick strokes of a vegetable peeler and your pizza is assembled in minutes.
For me, this combination of cheeses is what really made the pizza sing. The garlic herb cheese added a lot of flavor as well as a light, creamy texture. Boursin is widely available but if you are local, try the garden herb fromage blanc from Trader’s Point Creamy. I love that stuff! All in all this was a nice new way for me to enjoy the bounty of local asparagus. Now I am looking forward to trying some of the other variations of shaved asparagus in salads and such, but I know we’ll be making this pizza again and again.
