Asparagus, Mushroom, & Caramelized Onion Pizza

Last Friday was pizza party time.  I got up early and went to the Greenmarket.  It was one of the best Friday mornings in a long time.  The farmers market is so peaceful at 8:00 in the morning.  I ended up buying fresh eggs, a small rosemary bush, asparagus, and a variety of mushrooms.  The rest of the day was spent sniffing my rosemary plant sitting on my desk, and daydreaming about making asparagus, mushroom, and caramelized onion pizza.


Ingredients for Asparagus, Mushroom, and Caramelized Onion Pizza, makes two 10-inch pizzas:

-Pizza dough (recipe below)
-5 stalks of asparagus
-1/2 cup of caramelized onion (recipe below)
-1 cup roasted mushrooms (recipe below)
-Goat cheese, soft and creamy
-Egg (optional)

Later that night I began the pizza process by making a simple homemade pizza dough, from the Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook.

Ingredients for pizza dough, from the Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook, makes enough dough for four 10-inch pizzas:

-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
-1 tablespoon light brown sugar
-1 teaspoon active dry yeast
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1 1/2 cups warm water
-3/4 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves, chopped (I left this out, because I wanted to make a couple different pizzas)
-1 small clove garlic, chopped
-4 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour

To begin, combine 1 tablespoon of olive oil, sugar, yeast, rosemary, garlic, and water in a bowl of a standing mixer.  Mix together ingredients with a bread hook on a low speed.

Add all the flour at once, and mix on low for 2-3 minutes, until the dough sticks to the bread hook and is smooth and elastic.  If you do not have a standing mixer, you can use a wooden spoon and large bowl to mix.

Coat the bottom and sides of a large bowl with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil.  Place dough into the new bowl, and use your hands to flip the dough in the bowl so that all sides are coated with oil.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and put it in a warm place.  Allow the dough to double in volume, which will take about an hour.

While the dough is rising, I made the mushroom mix and caramelized my onions.

Ingredients for mushroom mix, from the Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook:

-2 cups button mushrooms, sliced
-1 cup shiitake mushrooms, stems and cut into thick strips
-1 cup oyster mushrooms, stemmed and cut into large chunks
-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
-1 clove garlic, chopped
-2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
-1 teaspoon salt
-1/4 teaspoon pepper

Begin by preheating the oven to 375 degrees F.  Chop all mushrooms, and combine all the ingredients together in a bowl, and toss until mushrooms are well-coated with oil and seasonings.

Roast on a sheet pan for 15 minutes, until the mushrooms are browned and caramelized.  Let mushrooms cool.

While the mushrooms are in the oven, begin to caramelize the onions.  This is easy - just thinly slice 2 medium to large onions (Vidalia are great for a sweet flavor), and heat up a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add 1 tablespoon canola oil and 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter.  Once butter begins to foam, add the onions all at once.

Turn the heat down to medium-low.  Toss the onions every 2-3 minutes, and continue to cook over medium-low hear.  Salt and pepper to taste.  The onions will take about 25-30 minutes.

As a final step, chop up about 5 stalks of asparagus into 1-inch pieces at a diagonal.

Now it is time to make the pizza.  Begin by moving your oven rack to the top position in the oven, about 5 inches from the oven's ceiling.  Place baking stone in the oven and preheat to 500 degrees F.

While oven is preheating, take a quarter of the dough and place on a well-oiled counter.  Using your hands flatten and stretch the dough into a thin 10-inch disk.  Place dough on a piece of parchment paper.

Spread half the caramelized onions on the pizza, then sprinkle half of the mushroom mixture and asparagus on top.  Then spoon out pieces of the soft goat cheese on top.  Next time, I will probably make pieces of goat cheese smaller, so I get a bit with every bite.

Slide your parchment paper with pizza onto the hot baking stone and bake for 8 minutes.  At 8 minutes, take out and crack an egg in the middle of the pizza.  Slide pizza back into the oven, and cook for remaining 4 minutes.  This is enough time for the egg to set, but still leave it slightly runny.  If you want a more cooked egg, just add the egg early.  If eggs aren't your thing, then just cook the pizza for 12 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.  Repeat for the second pizza.

I also made a cheese pizza, with just tomato sauce, sliced garlic, and Parmesan, and baked it for 12 minutes too.  Yum!