Spring Pizza

I don’t know about your neck of the woods, but here in New York, the magnolia trees and forsythia are in full force, baseball has taken over my 1010 WINS sports report, and the market is slowly but surely becoming more plentiful in the asparagus department. In honor of that, I thought you might like a pizza recipe that takes advantage of all this. (Remember, Golden Rule Number 348: When in Doubt with Kids, Pizza.) I developed this asparagus-mint-feta pizza for a new partner, King Arthur Flour, and the best thing about the recipe is that the crust is made with their white whole wheat — which is lighter in color (i.e. good for kids who balk at a darker grains) and nutritionally identical to whole wheat flour.

OK I lied, the real best thing about it is that they’ve offered DALS readers a pretty amazing giveaway — everything you’re looking at in this photo below PLUS (not shown) an Emile Henry pizza stone! Guys, I don’t know a lot, but I do know that this is mighty generous of them. Comment below to be eligible. (It wouldn’t hurt if you included a pizza tip or trick.) Deadline: Tuesday, April 5 at noon ET. Good luck!

One bag of their Identity-Preserved White Whole Wheat Flour (“Identity Preserved” means the grains are sustainably grown and traceable  from field to flour); one bag of their signature All-Purpose Flour; a “bake” mug; dish towel; dough scraper; bench knife; and the sweetest vintage tea towels. Comment below to be eligible to win. Contest ends Tuesday April 5 at noon ET. Good luck and thanks for playing!

UDPATE: THE WINNER HAS BEEN NOTIFIED. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED!

Spring Pizza with Asparagus and Leeks

4 tablespoons good-quality olive oil, plus more for brushing
1 16-ounce ball pizza dough (see recipe following) preferably sitting out at room temperature for about 15 minutes to warm up a bit and rise
6 ounces feta, crumbled
1 large bunch asparagus, trimmed of its woody ends, and chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 bunch of leeks, cleaned and roughly chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
½ teaspoon garlic powder
freshly ground pepper
chopped fresh herbs such as mint and chives

Preheat the oven to 475°F. Using your fingers or a pastry brush, grease a 17 x 12-inch rimmed baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Drop pizza dough into the center of the baking sheet and, using your fingers, press out and flatten the dough so it spreads as close as possible to all four corners. (This takes time, but you want it to be thin so it cooks evenly and quickly.) Sprinkle with the feta, leaving a ½-inch border around the perimeter. In a large bowl, toss the asparagus, leeks, lemon zest, and garlic powder.

Season with pepper to taste and drizzle in the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil, then give it all another toss. Using your hands, add the asparagus mixture on top of the cheese in an even layer. Brush the exposed edge of the crust with a little oil. Bake for 15 minutes, until the crust looks golden and the asparagus looks crispy and dark brown, but not black-burnt. (You can always cover the toppings with foil if the asparagus looks ready before the crust is.) Remove the pizza to a cutting board to cool. Top with herbs. Slice into eight rectangular pieces and serve.

Pizza Dough

Makes two 16-ounce balls of pizza dough. (You’ll be glad you have one leftover.)

3 3⁄4 cups King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour
2 1⁄2 teaspoons instant or other active dry yeast
3⁄4 teaspoon salt
3⁄4 teaspoon sugar
1 1/3 cups water, room temperature
Olive oil, for greasing

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar. Add the water, and using a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until blended, at least 30 seconds. The dough will be stiff, not wet and sticky. Cover the bowl and let it sit at room temperature until the dough has more than doubled in volume, about 2 hours. Divide the dough in two and shape each section into a flattened ball. If you are only making one pizza, freeze the other ball in a freezer storage bag. If you rub a little olive oil on your fingers and on the ball of dough before bagging, it will be less sticky to negotiate.