Asparagus Pizza with Caesar Sauce

During asparagus season, we found ourselves challenged to come up with a new way of using asparagus. Why not try it on a pizza? We quickly decided that an Alfredo-based sauce, rather than a tomato-based pizza sauce, would complement the asparagus better. I recalled seeing a Caesar salad recipe with asparagus, so using the ingredients for Caesar dressing as our inspiration, we made ourselves a delicious asparagus pizza.

Asparagus Pizza with Caesar Sauce

Prep Time: 25 min.
Total Time: 35 min.
Makes: two 12-14 inch pizzas

Ingredients

Two 12-14 inch pizza crusts (recipe here)
10-12 spears of asparagus
additional toppings of choice (we added sliced salami and mushrooms)
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
2 Tbsp butter
2 -3 garlic cloves, chopped (use more if you’re a fan of garlic)
3 Tbsp flour
1 cup milk
½ tsp lemon juice
½ tsp Worcestershire Sauce
½ tsp Dijon mustard
¼ tsp fish sauce
Chili paste, to taste
¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Fill a skillet with ½ inch of water and heat over medium high, bringing the water to a gentle boil. Trim the asparagus and lay in the skillet. Cook until bright green and tender-crisp, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from pan, cool, and cut into 1 inch pieces. Set aside.

Meanwhile, to prepare the Caesar sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat until bubbling, then add garlic and cook for one minute. While constantly whisking, mix in the flour to make a roux. When the flour is evenly mixed into the butter, slowly pour in the milk, whisking constantly. Keep whisking to remove any lumps. Continue to heat the milk until it thickens, stirring to prevent scorching.

Add the lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, fish sauce, and Dijon mustard and stir to combine. If desired, add chili paste to taste. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 425℉.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into two 12-14 inch circles and place each on a  round pizza pan.

Divide the Caesar sauce between the two pizzas and evenly spread over the dough. Sprinkle some of the cheese onto the sauce and top the pizza with sliced asparagus and any other toppings you desire. Finish off the pizza with additional cheese.

Bake until crust is golden and crispy, about 10 minutes.