Spring is the season; crust is the canvas
One of my favorite convenience ingredients that I always have on hand in the freezer is whole-grain pizza dough. Most grocery stores carry it nowadays, and many local pizzerias will sell you a ball of their dough. I consider it a staple because — way beyond just a vehicle for red sauce and piles of cheese — a pizza crust can be a blank canvas for all sorts of fun, creative and healthful combinations that reflect any season of the year.
The accompanying recipe is for a pizza that says “primavera” simply and elegantly, because it’s topped with creamy, lemon-spiked ricotta cheese, roasted asparagus and fresh basil. To make it, you give the asparagus a head start by roasting it in the oven, then you use the same (now conveniently preheated) baking sheet to build and cook the pizza on.
The whole-grain crust is stretched thin, so the pizza is not overly bready, and it crisps nicely in the oven. Over the years, I have come to relish this stretching process. As with other doughs, if it is fighting you and keeps bouncing back into shape, take a break for a few minutes to let the dough relax. (Or try Sara Moulton’s trick of lightly oiling the work surface before rolling out the dough. When you pick the dough up again it will be more supple and amenable to stretching.
After the crust is laid on the baking sheet, the lemon-zest-laced ricotta cheese is spread on, then piled with the roasted asparagus and a generous shower of Parmesan cheese. Once it’s baked, and the cheese is melted and golden brown, the pizza is crowned with ribbons of fresh, perfume-y basil leaves for a pizza at once light, fresh and satisfying.