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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Asparagus + Veggies White Sauce Pizza



























I came across this recipe at our work farewell party for Lori T. {Miss you Lori :(}

Andrea L, brought this dish and it was a hit. She was very kind to pass hand written recipe to all staff members.

Of course, I had to try it, usually I always..always modify the recipes given to me (Niti M. would agree with me ;) and never follow them step by step.

However this time I followed it exactly as she gave it to me, okay wait...except that she had used squash and asparagus and my husband does not like squash so I substituted squash with green and red peppers.

You can use almost any veggies to make this pizza... like spinach or artichoke. You may add little Jalapenos to make it spicy, which surprisingly I did not use this time.

Also for crust you can use home made pizza dough or Pillsbury Crescent rolls (I don't like using this because the dough is little sweet) or you can use Pillsbury pizza dough.

I used ready made risen pizza dough from refrigerator section of local discount store Marc's. It was made my Corbo's bakery. I must say it was very good. However if you are in a hurry, you can even use Naan as the pizza crust.


Ingredients:


* 1 pound loaf fresh whole wheat or regular pre-made or home-made pizza dough (or frozen, thawed)

* 2 tbl spoon butter

* 2 tbl spoon flour

* 1 cup milk

* 1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese

* Dash of salt (not too much)

* 6 oz. mozzarella cheese, sliced or grated (I used four cheese pizza cheese)

* 1 bunch (1 1/4 pounds) asparagus, trimmed and cut in 3-inch lengths

* 1 small red pepper sliced

* 1/2 green pepper sliced

* 3 tbl spoon olive oil

* 5 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced

* 1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions



Method:



* Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

* Grease two large 15x10x1-inch baking pans, set aside.

* Divide the pizza dough in two rolls and on a lightly floured surface, roll pizza dough to a rectangle.

* Press dough to thin layer into prepared pans, pressing to sides.

* Prick dough all over with a fork. Bake for 6 minutes or until very lightly browned.

* Flip it over and take it out of oven, so you will be putting the white sauce on more brown surface.

* Meanwhile, for white sauce, in a small saucepan melt the butter on medium heat.

* Stir in flour turn to low heat.

* Cook and stir for 1 minutes.

* Slowly whisk in milk.

* Add dash of salt.

* Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.

* Add Parmesan cheese; cook for 1 minute. (stir constantly)

* Spread the white sauce within 1/2 inch of dough edges.

* Top with mozzarella (I used four cheese Pizza cheese).

* Toss the asparagus, peppers, half of green onions, garlic with olive oil and roast about 4-5 minutes until desired tenderness. (please note that cook the veggies to desired tenderness as once you top them on the pizza and bake the pizza, pizza will quickly turn brown before veggies get cooked any further, I like mine little crunchy so I did not cook them too much on the skillet)

* Spread asparagus and peppers with garlic and green onions on cheese layer.

* Bake for 8 minutes, until browned.

* Sprinkle remaining green onions on top.

* Cool slightly, slice the pizza in to desirable serving size.

* Serve hot as an appetizer, light snack or light lunch.




Enjoy :)




Recipe Source: My lovely colleague Andrea L.

Photographs by Surekha.

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