Sometimes I make something that sounds and looks good, but is less than awesome. Other times, I make something that tastes much better than it looks. And then, on very rare occasions, I manage to throw something together that looks pretty good, but which has a taste far beyond what I would have imagined. This Asparagus Pesto Pizza? It falls into the final category, friends, and I don’t mind telling you that it’s one of the most amazing things I’ve put into my mouth in recent memory.
The recipe we used is a variation on the one Bobby Flay offers here, but with walnuts instead of pine nuts. When combined with the basil, grilled asparagus, romano cheese, olive oil and garlic, the resulting flavor is earthy, rich and satisfying, with a heady aroma that contrasts nicely with the sun-dried tomatoes we used as a simple topping.
I started by grilling the asparagus on a grill pan with a bit of olive oil and salt. After these took on a bit of color, I pureed them in a food processor with the basil, garlic, walnuts, olive oil and salt. When this was combined, I emptied the mixture into a bowl and stirred in the grated romano cheese.
Josh made the crust from scratch, but you could easily use a store-bought crust. After he pre-baked it on the pizza stone for a few minutes, we spread it with the pesto, and topped it with sliced sun-dried tomatoes and just a bit of mozzarella and parmesan. We then finished baking the whole thing in the oven, and served it with a simple salad.
I am not at all exaggerating when I tell you that this pesto is out-of-control amazing. Seriously, I would strongly suggest that you consider stopping what you’re doing and getting the ingredients to make it now. As a bonus, this recipe makes far more pesto than you could possibly eat in one sitting (or even on one or two pizzas), and keeps well in the fridge–though if you’re anything like us, you’ll have eaten the rest within a couple of days. We also used it as a sauce for corkscrew pasta, and ate it on toast (though you could also put it on grilled eggplant or use it as a dip for crudites). Affordable spring asparagus only happens so often, so take advantage of it while you can–and with a recipe like this, the veg-phobes in your life don’t have to be left out.
