Asparagus and Morel Pizza with Garlic Confit paired with TRV 2017 Pinot Noir
- 1 16 oz. pizza dough
- 1 lb Asparagus, ends trimmed and cut into 1 1/2" pieces
- 1 pint Morel mushrooms, stems removed and halved or quartered
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- truffle salt
- garlic confit, see below
- cornmeal for pizza peel
Garlic Confit:
Place garlic cloves in a small saucepan and cover with olive oil. Garlic cloves should be submerged. Bring oil to simmer over medium heat but do not boil. As soon as it comes to a simmer, reduce heat as low as possible and cook for about 45 minutes, until garlic is soft and tender. Remove garlic with a slotted spoon and set aside. Save oil for use on the pizza.
Pizza:
1. Place oven rack in the very top position of the oven and place pizza stone on it. Heat oven to 550 degrees.
2. If refrigerated, set pizza dough on the counter for at least half an hour.
3. Take 1 Tbs. of the oil from the garlic confit and place in a large sauté pan with the 4 cloves of minced garlic and red pepper flakes. Heat until fragrant, then add the morel mushrooms and a good dash of the truffle salt and sauté for a few minutes. Add the asparagus and another dash of salt and cook 3-4 more minutes, until bright green and still crisp. Remove from heat and taste mixture. Adjust seasoning if needed.
4. Spread cornmeal onto pizza peel of work surface. Use your hands to work pizza dough ball into a disk, when it gets to be 6-8 inches across place on the peel or work surface and stretch into a 12 inch disk. If dough springs back and is tough to work with let it sit and relax 10-15 minutes. when dough has been stretched to 12 inch disk give pizza peel a shake to make sure the dough is not sticking.
5. Brush 1 Tbs. of garlic confit oil all over the crust. Spread the shredded cheese all over the dough, leaving about an inch of space all around the outside edge of the crust. Cover with the morel/ asparagus mixture. Arrange the garlic confit cloves on top. Sprinkle with a little more truffle salt and red pepper flakes. Give the pizza peel another shake to make sure dough is not sticking.
6. Transfer pizza from peel to pizza stone. Cook for 8-10 minutes, until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly. Carefully remove from oven and serve with a nice bottle of TRV 2017 Pinot Noir.
